NUMBER 198 | OCTOBER 2016
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A BETTER AUSTRALIA WE NEED NEW INITIATIVES TO OPTIMISE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING 2017 NOMINATIONS NEW FORMAT AND CATEGORIES CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Nominations for the 2017 Clunies Ross Awards close Friday 28 October 2016 The new format and specific categories introduced in 2016 will be continued in 2017. Over the past quarter of a century the Awards have recognised contributions by dedicated individuals to the application of technology for the benefit of Australia, highlighting ATSE’s commitment to fostering innovation and commercialisation and acclaiming the work of those taking the nation’s leading technologies to the marketplace. Winners of the 2017 Clunies Ross Awards will be announced at the 2017 Innovation Dinner. IF YOU WISH TO NOMINATE A 2017 AWARD CANDIDATE GO TO THE ATSE WEBSITE, www.atse.org.au/cluniesrossawards
CATEGORIES CRITERIA
The three award categories are: The award criteria are: 1. The award winner has made an identifiably significant Clunies Ross Entrepreneur of the Year Award contribution to the advancement of industry and/or For those who have been responsible for the creation of a the community through the application of science and product or service with a financially successful outcome, in technology for the economic, social and environmental either an early stage or mature company environment with benefit of Australia; demonstrated impact for Australia. 2. The award winner is able to demonstrate the impact Clunies Ross Knowledge Commercialisation Award or potential impact of the technology-based innovation; For those who have been responsible for a technology and which has been commercialised, most likely by licensing, 3. The award winner has advanced the promotion with a financially successful outcome. of innovators and community awareness Clunies Ross Innovation Award of technological innovation. For those who have been responsible for the adoption of a technology, at a stage where the financial outcomes are yet to be realised and/or the benefits are of a measurable broad community nature.
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING
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12 ATSE names key aspects for We need better decisions research roadmap
and long-term planning 13 What will cars be in 2030? What roads will we need? 3 By David Singleton 16 WLAN pioneers honoured again
21 Elizabeth Broderick is 2016 Orator
Infrastructure for 22 ATSE argues against funding a warmer planet proposals 5 23 SA secondary science By Tom Connor teaching award
24 ATSE finalises REA report
24 Transforming towards zero emissions
We need to recognise 26 STELR is STEM – and it’s in the water-energy nexus more than 500 schools 48 ATSE in Focus 9 By Tony Wong, Bruce Godfrey and Steven Kenway
Front cover photo: We need new initiatives (Photo: iStock).
PUBLISHER Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Address: Level 1, 1 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne ATSE Focus is produced to stimulate discussion and public policy initiatives on key topics of interest to the Postal Address: Academy and the nation. Many articles are contributed by ATSE Fellows with expertise in these areas. Opinion GPO Box 4055, Melbourne, Victoria 3001 articles will be considered for publication. Items between 800 and 1400 words are preferred. Please address Telephone: 03 9864 0900 comments, suggested topics and article for publication to [email protected]. Facsimile: 03 9864 0930 Email: [email protected] Deadline for the receipt of copy for next edition of Focus is 4 November 2016. CEO: Dr Margaret Hartley FTSE Editor: Bill Mackey
COPYRIGHT This publication contains copyright material. Some of the material is owned by Australian Academy of Print Post Publication No 341403/0025 Technological Sciences and Engineering Ltd ACN 008 520 394 (ATSE) and some material is owned by others. ISSN 1326-8708 All copyright and other intellectual property rights in the materials remain with the owner. No material in this Design and production: publication may be copied (except as legally allowed) or further disseminated without the express and written Coretext 03 9670 1168 www.coretext.com.au permission of the holder of that copyright, with the exception of copying for educational purposes. Copyright © ATSE 2016
www.atse.org.au 1 Our vision is to create sustainability and excellence in Australia’s power engineering.
What is the API The Australian Power Institute (API) is a not for profit national organisation established by the Australian power industry to boost the quality and numbers of power engineering graduates with the skills and motivation for a career in the energy industry which encompasses: - Generation, transmission and distribution utilities - Manufacturers and suppliers to the industry - Consultants to the industry - End users of electricity in their operations. Value Proposition To deliver a sustainable supply of highly skilled power engineering professionals working effectively to meet the challenges of creating Australia’s new energy future, and underpin the technical and commercial success of member companies in the energy sector. The key objectives of API are to achieve the following: - Provide a sustainable supply of quality power engineering graduates to industry - University power engineering teaching and learning provides relevant industry skills - Value added continuing professional development programs - A respected organisation leading the national development of power engineering skills.
Further Information Contact - Mike Griffin (Chief Executive)
6 0419 643 795 [email protected] www.api.edu.au and www.powerengineering.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS
BY DAVID SINGLETON [email protected]
We need better decisions and long-term planning INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A BETTER AUSTRALIA Australia’s lack of transparency in infrastructure decision-making has often led to inefficiency and community distrust – and constrained informed debate.
The pace at which urban with a backlog of infrastructure investment ¢creating platforms to engage the public in development is happening that has been – and will continue to be discussions about investment decisions; T across the world in the 21st – exacerbated by population growth, by ¢creating greater transparency around century is intense. increasing demand and by the impacts of spending; Highly concentrated climate change. ¢incorporating environmental and social demographic growth in cities is one of the Australia’s lack of transparency in issues into decision-making; and greatest challenges that leaders face as they infrastructure decision-making has often led ¢partnering with the private sector to find look to protect the future of their nations in to inefficiency and community distrust, and new sources of funding and design ideas. the face of the global sustainability challenge. has constrained informed debate about the Robust infrastructure planning would There are few easy answers to the implied trade-offs: which projects, service allow industry to develop effective delivery question ‘What does it take to make cities outcomes, priorities, funding, and so on. plans and better workforce management, better?’, but many of the possible pathways To get the greatest value from future particularly in engineering. to better cities are intrinsically linked to infrastructure investments, leaders must think Economic, social and environmental infrastructure provision. more strategically about how to plan, fund benefits, such as jobs growth and creation, Cities that make wise infrastructure and implement these projects. reduced demand through efficiency, equity investments have proven success at meeting This could include: of public and economic assets and reduced future economic, environmental and social needs. Improved understanding of the Figure 1 Population projections of Australia’s capital cities interactions between infrastructure provision, Population size (million) the needs and aspirations of the population 10 served, and technology and sustainability 9 both now and into the future are essential for our nation’s prosperity. 8 In an Australian context, the combined 7 population of Australia’s capital cities will 6 grow by nearly 16 million by 2061, and the proportion of Australians living in a capital 5 city will significantly increase – from 66 per 4 cent in 2011 to 69.3 per cent in 2031, and 73.4 per cent in 2061. 3 These ‘medium’ projections suggest that the 2 population of Melbourne will grow to 8.6 million 1 by 2061, Sydney to 8.5 million, Perth to 5.5 million and Brisbane to 4.8 million (see Figure 1). 0 The implications of this population growth 2012 2022 2032 2042 2052 2062 for urban infrastructure needs will be significant. Sydney Adelaide Darwin As a consequence, Australia faces several Melbourne Perth Canberra difficult decades and must come to grips Brisbane Hobart SOURCE: AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, 2016
www.atse.org.au 3 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016
from each other’s successes and failures, WHAT IS A CITIZEN JURY? infrastructure challenges can be overcome. The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment says: Achieving this will involve continuing to ”Citizen juries involve the wider community in the decision-making process. Participants take advantage of the financial resources and are engaged as citizens with no formal alignments or allegiances rather than experts. Citizen innovation brought to the table by the private juries use a representative sample of citizens (usually selected in a random or stratified sector, as well as integrating community manner) who are briefed in detail on the background and current thinking relating to a feedback into operations through ongoing particular issue, and asked to discuss possible approaches, sometimes in a televised group. engagement and stakeholder management. ”Citizen juries are intended to complement other forms of consultation rather than Together, these strategies will help replace them. Citizens are asked to become jurors and make a judgement in the form of a leaders to transition our nation for the future report, as they would in legal juries. The issue they are asked to consider will be one that and will ensure that our cities can attract the has an effect across the community and where a representative and democratic decision- investment and global talent that can enable making process is required. their economies to grow. ¤ ”Citizen juries can be used to broker a conflict, or to provide a transparent and non- Mr David Singleton FTSE is a board chairman and aligned viewpoint. Citizen jurors bring with them an intrinsic worth in the good sense and non-executive director, a respected thought leader and wisdom born of their own knowledge and personal experience. Citizen juries provide the expert adviser to governments and global businesses opportunity to add to that knowledge and to exchange ideas with their fellow citizens.” on resilient leadership and practice, specialising in infrastructure, business sustainability and climate change resilience. He is a member of the Swinburne University of Technology Board, a Director of Standards greenhouse gas emissions, will accrue as quality infrastructure that accounts for the Australia Ltd and Chairman of the Infrastructure a result of the development of sustainable needs of all affected parties. Sustainability Council of Australia. He worked with the long-term infrastructure. Governments will develop a citizen-jury global consultants Arup for 41 years, holding a series of global and regional leadership roles. He was a Director of Cooperation with communities and approach for consulting with people, so that Arup Group Ltd, the global holding company (2001–11 collaboration across sectors will result in sound infrastructure decisions can be made. and was responsible for the strategic leadership of Arup speedier delivery of more successful high- When leaders take the time to learn globally. He chairs ATSE’s Infrastructure Forum.
ISSUE THREE Scientifically aciar.gov.au 2016 speaking... Content matters Australia’s leading custom publisher for science and innovation INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS Professionally written and produced publications and books Information products that show R&D at work Print and digital publications crafted to enhance stakeholder and community engagement
SEPTEMBER 2016
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PO Box 12542, Melbourne VIC 8006, Australia T +61 (0)3 9670 1168 [email protected] OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS
BY TOM CONNOR [email protected]
Infrastructure for a warmer planet INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A BETTER AUSTRALIA Australian governments should face the reality of the challenge and work with research institutes and professional bodies to implement a framework for design for a changing climate.
As we look ahead to developing infrastructure A in Australia and in our Asia–Pacific region, we are faced with a challenge never before laid out so obviously to engineers, planners and scientists. While even the earliest of development-orientated civil servants recognised that designs needed to take account of climate variability, no era of development has laid out the challenge – that we ‘know’ that the planet’s climate will be trending one way or the other in different regions. How should and will governments, designers and those that set standards and regulations respond? Pioneering infrastructure developers in Australia knew that climate variability meant both dry times and flood. Attempts were made to build dams that could cover the extremes of dry and to build townships on high enough ground to escape extremes of flood. Faced with little knowledge of the range of climate variability, not all such attempts were perfect. In response though, over a couple of hundred years, collective wisdom of scientists and engineers developed knowledge of the range of extremes one might encounter and hence we developed design ‘rules’ associated with climate variability. Flood analyses consider such aspects as ‘the 100-year event’ (more accurately described as the one per cent chance event every year) and bridge designers ensure such infrastructure is safely designed for more extreme events, such as the one-in-10,000-year event. But these considerations flow to less dramatic but still important infrastructure and Infrastructure under pressure.
www.atse.org.au 5 Enhancing Australia’s prosperity through technology and innovation The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)
ATSE is made up of some of Australia’s leading thinkers in technology and engineering. One of Australia’s four Learned Academies, it’s an eclectic group, drawn from academia, government, industry and research, with a single objective in mind – to apply technology in smart, strategic ways for our social, environmental and economic benefit.
To achieve that goal, ATSE has formed a variety of expert, independent forums for discussion and action – platforms to move debate and public policy on issues concerning Australia’s future. These focus on energy, water, health, education, built environment and innovation – and the international collaboration necessary to ensure that Australia is abreast of world trends.
It’s an open, transparent approach – one that government, industry and community leaders can trust for technology-led solutions to national and global challenges. Each year, the Australian Government recognises the importance of the work we do by awarding the Academy an establishment grant to help with:
n Fostering research and scholarship in Australia’s technological sciences and engineering;
n Providing and conducting administrative support, workshops, forums and events to enable the Academy and its Fellows to contribute on important national issues;
nManaging the development and execution of our programs; and
nSupporting relationships with international communities.
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING
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The reality is that climate loadings on infrastructure are changing and will change over the lifetime of infrastructure built today.
climate interactions. Local council regulations therefore often the courts) to determine an nationwide – from perhaps one of comfortable will likely require drainage capacities to cater appropriate response. awareness of the warming planet and the for a once-in-two-year event and coastal Meanwhile currently built infrastructure institutes and other parties ‘doing their thing’ Enhancing Australia’s infrastructure may be designed to tolerate is likely to suffer from the warming climate to perhaps one of striving to understand the occasional inundation of combined tide level, and, without the planning and design for climate and economic reality and ensuring storm set-up and rainfall occurrences. incremental build under the third option above, that the national ‘rules’ of implementation are prosperity through These may cause inconvenience but, communities will be faced with increased appropriate to the circumstances. like the infrastructure itself, communities inconvenience or risk or costs of remediation. Personally, I’d be happy to see and accept can tolerate an occasional inconvenience for whatever came from such a process. I have technology and innovation the sake of economical design. However, if LITTLE TAKE-UP previously proposed a possible framework the warming planet exhibits a climate trend Some research institutions and professional which might be one of many suitable The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) over the life of new coastal infrastructure of bodies have outlined adaptation frameworks approaches. It could include four phases of even slightly higher sea levels and slightly but as yet there appears little take-up at the assessment. more severe storm events, occasional state or national level for a holistic approach to Determining environmental loadings ATSE is made up of some of Australia’s leading inconvenience will quickly become regular this reality – the reality that the climate loadings 1 over the design life of the infrastructure thinkers in technology and engineering. One of inundation and community frustration. on infrastructure are changing and will change The major environmental loadings affecting Australia’s four Learned Academies, it’s an eclectic Hence we face the challenge not faced over the lifetime of infrastructure built today. most infrastructure will include water group, drawn from academia, government, before. Knowing that the warming planet All countries have this challenge but level (sea level and its response to storm industry and research, with a single objective in will be exhibiting a trend towards a different Australia and the Asia–Pacific region face factors – and flood level), wind, rainfall and mind – to apply technology in smart, strategic ‘average’ climate over the life of infrastructure it more acutely because of the massive waves. Individual designers should not be ways for our social, environmental and economic built today or tomorrow, what should be the coastline lengths, island states and high expected to make predictions but the body benefit. response? population densities in coastal regions. of knowledge is now well developed and To achieve that goal, ATSE has formed a variety ¢ Design and build for the climate at the end With sometimes fragile infrastructure with care and consideration updated sets of expert, independent forums for discussion and of its lifetime but of course incur greater in developing countries, disaster risk of predictions could be made available by a action – platforms to move debate and public costs for the ‘over design’ in all earlier years? management is particularly important and suitable authority. policy on issues concerning Australia’s future. ¢ Design and build for some intermediate requires climate change considerations. If Risk assessment in response to those These focus on energy, water, health, education, stage – on average – such that the risk of Australia can develop and implement a sound 2 changing loadings built environment and innovation – and the failure or inconvenience is the same over and positive response to the challenge, its In most circumstances, design will not remove international collaboration necessary to ensure its lifetime? professional service providers will be well completely the likelihood of a performance that Australia is abreast of world trends. ¢ Or perhaps design now for an incremental placed to lead such work in the wider region. failure. ‘Failure’ in this context could vary from build that can readily cater for upgrades in What could or should be done? the overflowing of a drain designed for a It’s an open, transparent approach – one that future stages as the planet warms over the Governments at the state and national level once-in-two-year event to collapse of a bridge government, industry and community leaders lifetime of the infrastructure? should face the reality of the challenge and in an extremely rare event. The consequence can trust for technology-led solutions to national and global challenges. Each year, the Australian This is the challenge not before faced – work with the various parties, such as the determines the risks. The objective is to Government recognises the importance of and not currently being faced very well, in my research institutes and professional bodies select a design performance standard such the work we do by awarding the Academy an opinion. that have been working in this area of that the exceedance probability over the establishment grant to help with: The response to date in Australia has adaptation, to propose and then implement a project’s life in the changing climate is as been a mixture of accidental and inadvertent framework for design for a changing climate. acceptable as it would be if the climate stayed n Fostering research and scholarship in Australia’s applications of the options. The construction of such a guidance the same. For some infrastructure, such as technological sciences and engineering; Some authorities have set guidelines for framework could use the body of knowledge bridges, one may adopt a design standard sea-level rise based on an end-of-lifetime developed to date by those parties and such that it always meets the current design n Providing and conducting administrative scenario, but not applied commensurate fairly quickly proposed a consultation draft. standard throughout its project life (a more support, workshops, forums and events guidance on other climatic loadings. Most This would give reality to the issue and conservative approach); whereas for projects to enable the Academy and its Fellows to contribute on important national issues; authorities have left it to designers (and challenge and change an attitude in designers of less risk, one may select a design standard nManaging the development and execution of our programs; and CONTRIBUTIONS Opinion pieces on technology related topics, preferably between 600 and 1400 words, will be considered for publication. They must list the full nSupporting relationships with international ARE WELCOME name of the author, if a Fellow of the Academy. Other contributors should provide their full name, communities. title/role and organisation (if relevant) and email address. Please address to [email protected] AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING www.atse.org.au 7
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such that the design meets the current including some changes known to be required This approach shows the designing standard on average over its project life. later. The latter is less defined but the analysis infrastructure for a warming planet can be Adaptation options development will have explored various design modifications disciplined but provide substantial scope for 3 Perhaps considering such options as (a) possible and without committing to any one innovation. build now for predicted scenario (b) planned of them accepts that solutions will be possible In the current regulatory vacuum, adaptation measures (c) progressive ad hoc and feasible at the time. One expects that the the reality is not being faced and wasted modification or (d) build to repair. The first and second option will be favoured over the third opportunities will return to bite us in the form fourth options are reasonably straightforward: when it is apparent that any likely upgrade will of costly and disruptive retrofits in future. respectively, designing now for the predicted necessitate some major and costly retrofitting If governments were to adopt a more lifetime conditions or ignoring, after analysis exercise and could better be accommodated in positive and progressive approach now, not and choice, the impacts of climate change the initial construction. only would it be an opportunity for Australia on design. The latter case will come about Options assessment and decision by but we would demonstrate a service offering when consequences and costs of repair are 4 owners and stakeholders for the agreed vital for the Asia–Pacific region.¤ acceptable and lead to a lower whole of adaptation approach Dr Tom Connor AO FTSE is a Past President of Engineers life cost. The former case will deliver a more Inputs and decision points within each phase Australia (EA) and has undertaken lead roles with resilient design for climate change and will would allow the risk-based approach to be engineering firm Kellogg Brown and Root Pty Ltd be most appropriate when retrofitting adds tailored to the specific project and the specific (KBR). With KBR, he led flood, coastal and disaster management projects in Australia and South-East Asia. substantially to present worth calculations of location. Examples of these specific input Within EA and KBR, he has undertaken sustainability whole of life costs. Options (b) and (c) are only factors are the time span of the design life, and climate change initiatives dating back to 1988. subtly different from each other and involve chosen climate change scenarios, the desired He has been a Deputy Chair of ATSE’s Water Forum, a careful, and probably innovative, considerations risk profile and cost analysis of outcomes of member of the Infrastructure Forum and led or been a part of a number of ATSE and EA working parties on of modifications that can occur to the design various adaptation methods. It is likely that various climate and water position papers. during its lifetime. The former ‘bites the bullet’ innovation will play a role in developing in determining what the upgrade program will preferred design approaches. be and designs now for that program, perhaps OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS
BY TONY WONG [email protected], BRUCE GODFREY [email protected] and STEVEN KENWAY [email protected] We need to recognise the water-energy nexus INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A BETTER AUSTRALIA The vulnerability of water and energy resources in an era of increasing demand, uncertainty and cost represents a critical business, security and environmental issue.
In Australian cities, water household, to enable appropriate policies and freshwater are withdrawn for energy production management directly and actions for sustainable and resilience outcomes. every year. At about 15 per cent of the world’s I indirectly uses 13 per cent Water and energy, and related cycles such total water withdrawal, the figure is second only of Australia’s electricity and as carbon and nutrients, are interconnected to agriculture. The vast majority of water used in 18 per cent of its natural gas, and therefore a change in one can cause the energy sector is for cooling at thermal power and collectively accounted for eight per cent a change in the other. Too often though, plants, as water is the most effective medium of the country’s primary energy use in 2007. management of water resources and energy for carrying away its huge quantities of waste In Australia, and also globally, more than production continues as if they are separate heat. Though the amount used for biofuels and of 95 per cent of global energy production is and unrelated entities. fossil fuels may appear minor on a global level, dependent on the availability of fresh water. The urban water-energy nexus can be this must be viewed in the context of local water The many uses of water in energy production considered at three scales: resources and potential risks posed to water include cooling of thermoelectric plants, ¢ the regional scale, where water is needed quality. Water withdrawal by the energy sector is hydropower generation, fuel extraction and to produce energy and energy is needed expected to rise by one-fifth through 2035, while production, and fuel refining and processing. to deliver water services; the amount consumed (not returned directly to The broad water-energy nexus is ¢ the consumer scale, at the nexus of water the environment) increases by a more dramatic generally well established. Put simply, water efficient and energy efficient appliances, 85 per cent.” is used to produce energy and energy is and energy input in household hot water used to provide water-related services. The services; and As part of the climate mitigation discussion, International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2012 ¢ the precinct scale, where opportunities the notion of ‘cleaner’ energy production reported water consumption ranging from exist for the use of district-scale energy associated with nuclear power plants has 250 to 1400 litres per megawatt hour of generation, utilisation of waste heat for been put forward. This will further increase electricity produced from fossil power plants. water disinfection and production of hot water consumption per MWh of electricity The volume of water utilised and returned, water, and energy production from biosolids production by 30 to 40 per cent and increase in an elevated temperature state, is much from wastewater treatment plants. risk of water contamination. higher, at between 75,000 and 450,000 litres Regardless of the mode of electricity per MWh for the associated once-through REGIONAL SCALE generation, power production in future will cooling system of these power plants. At a regional scale, we will need to examine be increasingly vulnerable to climate change The vulnerability of water and energy the emerging trends in the vulnerability of impact on water resources. New regional resources in an era of increasing demand, cities to ‘limits on growth’ scenarios for water power plants previously located in close increasing uncertainty in the reliability resources and energy production. A recent proximity to energy sources for production and cost of utilising the traditional sources IEA report notes that water is used in: power (for example, coal fields) may need to be sited of energy and water represents a critical generation, primarily for cooling thermal in areas of greater abundance of water or use business, security and environmental issue. power plants; in the extraction, transport dry cooling, which cuts water consumption But the interconnection or cause-effect and processing of fuels; and, increasingly, in sharply but reduces plant efficiency. relationship between water and energy irrigation to grow biomass feedstock crops. Hydropower development, where continues not to receive the public and policy water resources directly produce energy, attention that it should. This is largely due to The IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2012 found: must be increasingly cognisant of water our inability to provide a clear picture of this “that the scale of water use for energy production constraints that occur naturally (through nexus at a range scales, from regional to the is tremendous. Some 580 billion cubic metres of droughts, heatwaves or shifting weather
www.atse.org.au 9 Clever resourCeful solutions
The minerals we help to mine shape the world We combine the progressive thinking of our Global we live in. R&D and Technical networks to find solutions for the challenges encountered at every stage of the mining An Australian company with a global footprint, value chain. Orica has operations in more than 50 countries and customers in more than 100. On average, we deliver To deliver for our customers, we rely on excellence in 1,500 blasts every day. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
We’re focused on developing long-term We are therefore proud to be the principal Sponsor partnerships with our customers to reduce the total of ATSE’s STELR Project and to have helped more costs of mining, improve productivity and achieve than 400 schools in Australia and beyond become sustainable environmental outcomes. STELR schools.
Blasting Systems l Ground Support l Mining Chemicals orica.com
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patterns), or are human-induced as a result of Figure 1 The future paradigm: a framework for coordinated and growing competition among hydropower’s more e cient urban performance management multiple operational objectives (irrigation supply, flood and drought management) or regulations that limit access to water. GHG and heat GHG and heat On the other side of the nexus at the A Ecosystem regional scale, energy is needed to deliver health A Human water services to consumers – water extraction wellbeing and production, water treatment, water supply Energy, ghg recycling A and heat and distribution, and water recycling. Water In Australia, less than 10 per cent of water- A Materials related energy consumption is at the utility, A and waste while in excess of 90 per cent is related to water used in homes, business and government. Energy costs are typically the second recycling largest operating cost (after labour) in western SOURCE: KENWAY, 2013 countries. Across Asia, energy costs can account for up to 70 per cent of the annual and material inputs and outputs within Scenario analysis suggests that occupant operating cost of water utilities. In most a three-dimensional boundary helps city behaviour has a greater potential effect than countries energy use and costs for water are and infrastructure planners visualise the technology changes, potentially accounting anticipated to increase significantly as we shift interconnections and interplay, and the for between 47 to 72 per cent of water-related to more energy-intensive water sources to energy implications of water management. GHG emissions, comparable to the effect of accommodate expected increases in demand installing a solar hot-water system. attributed to population growth. The impact of CONSUMER SCALE growth in the use of energy will be exacerbated More than 90 per cent of water-related PRECINCT SCALE by anticipated increases in the electricity prices. energy use in cities is at the consumer District-level (or precinct-scale) water CSIRO forecast a growth of some 500 per cent end of the water supply chain. Heating, recycling, open space strategies for urban Clever in the energy costs of Australian urban water cooling, pressurising and steaming water cooling, district-level power generation and between 2010 and 2030. are all energy-intensive operations. At the precinct-scale integration of urban water Many Australian utilities are working on residential level in particular, modeling by services present significant opportunities to resourCeful a range of strategies such as replacement of CRC for Water Sensitive Cities researchers has manage better key water-energy nexus issues. inefficient assets, optimising water treatment shown that water-related energy can account A recent discussion paper issued by the and system management processes and for more than half of household energy CRC for Water Sensitive Cities noted that solutions generation of power from biosolids produced use (excluding transport) and one-third of precinct-scale developments (in the case of at wastewater treatment plants. household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. this paper, the regeneration of Fishermans But a bigger gain in water and energy Water use in showers, clothes-washer Bend in Melbourne) provide opportunities The minerals we help to mine shape the world We combine the progressive thinking of our Global conservation is available at the point of and bath sub-systems – and losses from hot for “innovation in the design of the built we live in. R&D and Technical networks to find solutions for the end-use – in households, commercial water systems and pipes – comprised the environment, yet significant enough to challenges encountered at every stage of the mining and industrial enterprises. Most water- major share of water-related energy use. The materially reduce demands and reliance on An Australian company with a global footprint, value chain. conservation initiatives reduce energy use. clothes-washer, dishwasher and electric kettle currently stressed centralised energy, water Orica has operations in more than 50 countries and Other water-related services with comprised the bulk of water-related GHG and sewerage infrastructure systems.” customers in more than 100. On average, we deliver To deliver for our customers, we rely on excellence in associated energy usage include flood emissions. Production of hot water is typically Increased urban density often provides 1,500 blasts every day. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. protection and environmental clean-up the greatest household water-related energy the financial business case for investment associated with water pollution. An emerging consumption. in innovation in urban water and energy We’re focused on developing long-term We are therefore proud to be the principal Sponsor approach to conceptualising the water and Consumer awareness and innovation in services. These investments can come in many partnerships with our customers to reduce the total of ATSE’s STELR Project and to have helped more energy fluxes through a city is the use of an appliances hold the key to achieving greater forms, ranging from architectural design for costs of mining, improve productivity and achieve than 400 schools in Australia and beyond become urban metabolism lens. energy conservation through consumer choices more water and energy-sensitive buildings, to sustainable environmental outcomes. STELR schools. Simple accounting of water, energy and behaviours linked to water conservation. open space design for urban heat mitigation,
LETTERS TO THE ATSE Focus welcomes letters from readers in response to EDITOR published article or on technology related topics. Blasting Systems l Ground Support l Mining Chemicals Please keep letters brief. Longer letters may be run as contributed articles. Please address to [email protected] orica.com
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to reuse of locally treated wastewater. The Australian Prime Minister’s Science academia. He has led a large number of award- Each of these has direct and indirect Engineering and Innovation Council drew winning urban design projects. He received the prestigious Sir John Holland Award as Australia’s Civil positive impacts on both water and energy a similar conclusion in 2010 noting that: Engineer of the Year in 2010, cited as having defined “a conservation and GHG emissions. “Resilient pathways will simultaneously new paradigm for design of urban environments that Many European cities have implemented reduce GHG emissions, lower overall water blends creativity with technical and scientific rigour”. district-level power generation to (a) meet demand, maintain overall environmental Dr Bruce Godfrey FTSE is CEO of Australian Scientific greenhouse gas emissions goals and (b) quality and allow living standards to continue Instruments Pty Ltd and a Director of Wyld Group accommodate increasing urban densities. to improve”. Strategies that achieve this will Pty Ltd. His career has focused on the advancement and commercialisation of technologies (particularly These systems capture the waste heat from also improve productivity, efficiency and new energy technologies), investment readiness of district-level electricity generation and pipe competitiveness of Australian systems. products and companies, and innovation policy and hot water to households. This also reduces The challenges associated with the programs. He has served on a number of AusIndustry the corresponding energy cost of hot water vulnerability of water and energy, particularly and other government agency innovation funding and advisory committees, including as Chair of the reticulation, owing to increased density of such in cities, can be addressed. They need proper Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Advisory precinct-scale urban development projects. consideration of the water-energy nexus and Panel until mid-2014. He is a Member of AusIndustry’s This removes the need for hot water (and a socio-technical approach to solutions. R&D Tax Incentive Committee. He is an ATSE Director air heating) within individual households and Finding solutions to the water-energy and chairs its Energy Forum and is a Member of the Academy's Audit & Risk Committee. also greatly reduces the emission of waste nexus will be increasingly relevant at the level of heat to the environment. Probably the most the Australian economy, as nations are globally Dr Steven Kenway is Research Group Leader, Water- Energy-Carbon at the University of Queensland. He obvious opportunity for harnessing the water- benchmarked regarding their gross national is an Australian and Fulbright Research Fellow and energy nexus relates to recent advancements product per unit of consumption of water and International Water Association taskforce leader for in highly efficient heat-exchangers. energy and greenhouse gas emissions. the water-energy nexus and Steering Committee The importance of system design for Precinct-scale urban design and member for Future Cities. He has worked for CSIRO (Team Leader, Future Cities), Brisbane Water (Manager, sustainability and resilience that incorporates infrastructure planning present the potential Environment and Risk), Kellogg Brown and Root the water-energy nexus at a range of scales ‘sweet spot’ for innovation, which exploits (Principal Environmental Scientist) and Sydney Water cannot be overstated. local-scale opportunities for harnessing the (Environmental Scientist). Steven’s work focuses on As concluded in a March 2011 World Policy water-energy nexus. ¤ the urban water cycle and related environmental management. His research areas include energy and Institute paper: “Competition for water among Professor Tony Wong FTSE is CEO of the Cooperative greenhouse gas emissions, urban metabolism, and municipalities, farmers, industrial and power Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, which sustainability analysis, management and reporting. suppliers is already evident … In a world where has research hubs in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth Dr Kenway has led diverse, national and international water scarcity is a major and growing challenge, and Singapore. He is internationally recognised multidisciplinary and multi-agency research projects. for his research and practice in sustainable urban These include conceptualising and leading an energy meeting future energy needs depends on water water management, particularly water-sensitive use analysis for urban water in Australia and New availability – and meeting water needs depends urban design. His expertise has been gained through Zealand and modelling the water and energy futures on wise energy policy decisions.” national and international consulting, research, and for Melbourne.
ATSE NAMES KEY ASPECTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ROADMAP ATSE has recommended to the Federal Government that the 2016 in research and provided international leadership in research National Research Infrastructure Capability Roadmap should focus on: opportunities that would otherwise be too large or too complex for alignment with national research priorities; emphasising collaboration; individual institutions to fund; and capabilities rather than disciplines; and dealing with data. ¢ where there was a multidisciplinary context and national/ ATSE made these recommendations in its submission to the 2016 international relevance. National Research Infrastructure Capability Issues Paper, saying they To ensure the success of these projects ATSE highlighted that the would help ensure the capability areas were the right ones and that establishment of access arrangements for a range of stakeholders was the areas for future development were appropriate. essential for each facility, noting that infrastructure must be accessible ATSE said that funded projects should be complementary, rather by all categories of researchers, including meritorious, commercial and than supplementary, to existing research infrastructure programs with international users, terms of access should be transparent, and the strategic consideration of investment by government: cost of access should not be prohibitive. ¢ in those areas where it was necessary in the context of national Critically, ongoing funding for operational expenses must be priorities, under specific programs and in the national strategic interest; factored in to ensure operational stability and to remove barriers to ¢ where it could enhance collaborative research and development access, it said. opportunities by Australian researchers and commerce; ATSE also noted that pivotal to the 2016 Roadmap was the ¢ in areas where Australia was, or potentially could be, world-class positioning of data access, storage and management.
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BY HUGH BRADLOW [email protected] STOCK PHOTO: i PHOTO: What will cars be in 2030? What roads will we need? INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A BETTER AUSTRALIA We should aim for a situation where, by 2030, no human is allowed to touch the controls of a vehicle on a public road in Australia.
The motor vehicles we drive maintain than internal combustion engines Australia’s roads. It is well known that about 94 today will be as foreign to as they have far fewer moving parts. The per cent of road accidents are due to human our children as a horse and improved manufacturing and technology of error. If we (conservatively) assume that a T buggy look to us. They are batteries will make electric cars increasingly fully automated road fleet would avoid 90 per being hit by a perfect storm competitive from both a cost and range cent of today’s accidents, that is about 1000 of three different developments that will perspective. needless deaths we could avoid each year. change their nature dramatically. It can be readily envisaged that by the First, the mobile internet has spurred the end of the next decade no one will purchase It will reduce hospital admissions. notion of the vehicle as a shared, as opposed new internal combustion motor vehicles (if In addition to the lives lost on the roads, every to exclusive, asset. Uber, GoGet, Car Next they purchase a vehicle at all). year road accidents cause approximately 50,000 Door and Sidecar, for instance, are already Third, autonomous vehicle technology is people to suffer injuries serious enough to encouraging people to change from owning a developing at a rapid pace. require hospitalisation. That figure represents car to purchasing the service of a car. We should aim for a situation where, by almost 10 per cent of all hospitalisations due Second, huge investment in battery 2030, no human is allowed to touch the controls to injury. Again, making the conservative technology will result in a rapidly declining of a vehicle on a public road in Australia. assumption of 90 per cent accident avoidance price for electric drivetrain vehicles. It is through full autonomy, we would prevent anticipated that by 2022 electric vehicles will THIS IS A GOOD IDEA FOR 45,000 hospitalisations injuries currently be cheaper than those powered by internal SEVERAL REASONS burdening our health system each year. combustion engines. First and foremost it will save lives. Some people dispute that 90 per cent of Electric motors are easier to build and Every year approximately 1200 people die on accidents will be avoided by a fully autonomous
www.atse.org.au 13 Business Department of Industry, Business Research and Innovation and Science Innovation Initiative
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fleet. In particular, the recent incident in which The environment will benefit. Technology change a Tesla in autopilot mode had a fatal accident is A fully electric vehicle fleet will have an obvious The technologies required to create an giving fuel to this fire. However, this argument impact on greenhouse gas emissions. In efficient vehicle are improving at an is negated by a number of key points, the most addition, environmental savings will also result exponential rate. Essentially, four sets important of which is that Tesla has already from the fact that vehicles that don’t crash can of technologies are required to create updated and corrected their autopilot software be built out of lighter and cheaper materials. autonomous vehicles. to prevent the same circumstances arising ¢ sensors for situational awareness such as again. By contrast, human drivers have the same Journeys will be delay-free and cameras with image recognition, radars, accidents over and over again. absolutely predictable, thereby saving lidars and possibly microphones; additional ‘buffer’ time that is required ¢ augmented GPS and maps; Road efficiency will be improved. to ensure arrival on time. ¢ vehicle-to-X communications; and Autonomous vehicles will be able to A world of fully autonomous vehicles ¢ machine learning and other algorithms. occupy the road system much more will relegate congestion and stopping at To cite one example, the cost of lidars efficiently because they can be coordinated intersections to the dustbowl of history. (which stands for ‘light detection and ranging’ through V2X (vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle- Furthermore it will open personalised and is a technology that measures distance to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-pedestrian) transport options to individuals who are by illuminating a target with a laser light) is communications and the cars themselves otherwise disadvantaged – the elderly, the falling dramatically. Lidars are an essential react at machine speed. This will allow them disabled and children. technology in that they enable accurate to be packed more efficiently onto the roads. position and velocity detection for objects Modelling road capacity requirements IS IT POSSIBLE? surrounding the autonomous vehicles. has shown that, despite a 2.5-fold increase A fully autonomous vehicle fleet would have A decade ago, lidars would have cost in road demand between now and 2050, enormous beneficial impact on society. How $80,000 apiece. In 2014, American company we would need no more road infrastructure soon is it possible? Is 2030 a realistic date? Velodyne (in which Ford has invested US$75 in 2050 than we have today, due to a There are a number of reasons why it is million) announced an $8000 lidar. However, combination of technology developments achievable. even at that price lidars impose a hefty price including driverless cars. impost on a vehicle, but a number of start- Even more stark, the International Investment ups, including Quanergy and Sweep, have Transport Forum of the OECD did a much Every major automotive manufacturer is announced lidars in the $100 to $250 range. more detailed model of Lisbon as an investing in developing fully autonomous Recently Massachusetts Institute of Technology example of a typical mid-sized European vehicles by early next decade. For instance, (MIT) reported that it had developed CMOS city and found that a combination of shared Ford has announced plans to release a fully (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) autonomous vehicles (which they called driverless car without a steering wheel or lidar chips that it believes can be mass- ‘taxibots’) and mass transit would reduce road pedals in the next five years. produced for $10 per lidar. traffic at peak hour by more than 65 per cent. In addition, the Silicon Valley giants Lidars will no longer be an expensive (Google, Uber and possibly others) and a host option for self-driving vehicles but a standard Capital requirements will decrease. of start-ups are investing in the technology integral component. Besides road infrastructure, capital is also tied for self-driving cars. The machine learning algorithms to up in vehicles. The Lisbon study showed that Industry sources estimate the venture drive the vehicles are also improving rapidly. their model of taxibot and mass transit would capital and merger investment close to $1.5 As more data about driving behaviour is lead to a 10-fold reduction in vehicles on the billion over the past few years and dozens of collected, the machine learning improves road. In Australia, approximately a quarter of a deals have been done already. apace. For example, start-up Comma.ai has trillion dollars is tied up in vehicle ownership, While investment in itself is not a the novel idea of collecting driving behaviour so a 90 per cent reduction would free up guarantee of an outcome it is usually an data by providing incentives for human more than $200 billion of capital which could indication of the strength of belief of enough drivers to record their road activity on their go into other areas of the economy. technologists that they can get the job done. smartphones. Comma.ai will use this data to train its algorithms.
Existing vehicles The reasons for forbidding human One reason why people believe it will take decades for all vehicles to become self-driving is drivers on public roads are compelling because of the millions of existing vehicles that do not have the capability. The average age of and the technology to make it possible cars in Australia is 10.1 years, which means that cars can hang around for about 20 years. is developing very rapidly. However, start-ups are already tackling
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this problem because it represents a huge car against a semi-professional human driver a fully autonomous road system. commercial opportunity. For example, and beat him. Stanford believes that by 2030 A fully driverless world represents a Comma.ai claims it will have an after-market self-driving cars will be capable of beating the massive disruption to vested interests – kit available at a cost of $1000 to convert best human Formula One drivers. both of private individuals and substantial existing vehicles to self-driving by the end of The reasons for forbidding human drivers commercial entities. 2016. It claims its kit is compatible with any on public roads are compelling. Moving us to the new world as fast as car that has electronic steering and electronic The technology to make it possible is possible represents a significant challenge stability control. Another start-up, Cruise developing very rapidly and will most likely politically. ¤ Automation, also developing after-market be ready in the first half of the 2020s. Professor Hugh Bradlow FTSE is Chief Scientist at kits was acquired by General Motors in March Despite the significant disruption to their Telstra Corporation in which capacity he acts as a 2016 for more than US$1 billion. existing ways of doing business, Australian ‘forward scout’, looking at the longer-term technology road authorities are embracing the change directions and technology disruption that will impact Telstra and its customers. He is also President Software versus human beings with enthusiasm. Their goal is to achieve a Elect of ATSE. Before joining Telstra in September There seems to be an almost mythical belief in zero road toll and autonomous vehicles are 1995, Professor Bradlow was Professor of Computer the driving capabilities of human beings. For the mechanism to achieve that goal. Engineering at the University of Wollongong in example, people assert “self-driving vehicles They are already addressing the Australia and Professor of Electrical Engineering (Digital Systems) at the University of Cape Town. won’t be able to execute the 40,000 lane regulations required to manage the transition He is an Emeritus Professor of the University of changes that occur per hour on our freeways”. from today’s world to tomorrow’s driverless Wollongong and a Professorial Fellow of the University But the evidence indicates otherwise. one. However, it needs to be recognised that of Melbourne and is globally recognised as a thought Stanford University raced an autonomous human issues will be the main impediment to leader in telecommunications.
WLAN PIONEERS HONOURED AGAIN ive 2010 Clunies Ross Award winners have been honoured again increased indoor wireless data transmission rates from 10 megabits Ffor their revolutionary 1992 CSIRO invention that led to the per second to greater than 50 Mbits/s and prevented the distortion of establishment of Wi-Fi. the signal, as the radio waves bounced off walls and furniture. Their invention has been chosen by the National Museum The WLAN team was Dr John O'Sullivan FAA FTSE, Mr Graham of Australia to be part of the A History of the World in 100 Objects Daniels, Dr Terence Percival AM FTSE, Mr Diethelm Ostry and Mr John exhibition, which opened in Deane – all of whom won a 2010 Canberra in September and Clunies Ross Award for their runs until January 2017. The work. exhibition is a collaboration National Museum senior between the British Museum, curator Dr Michael Pickering said the Western Australian the WLAN invention was a fitting Museum and the National 101st object in the exhibition Museum of Australia. because it had revolutionised A History of the World in the way people all over the 100 Objects showcases items world communicate. from around the globe to ”CSIRO’s practical solution explore the past two million for high-speed data transmission years of human history, was a commercial success and sourcing the oldest objects laid the foundation for Wi-Fi, from the British Museum's which in turn led to today’s collection and incorporating laptop and liberated users those from the present day. CSIRO's WLAN team with the WLAN testbed (from left) Terry Percival, John Deane, Diet from the desktop computer,” The National Museum Ostry, Graham Daniels and John O'Sullivan. Dr Pickering said. chose to include a 101st ”The scientific discovery of object representing a globally recognised Australian innovation – the Wi-Fi is a perfect example of how research undertaken right here in ground-breaking CSIRO wireless local area network (WLAN) test bed Australia, by CSIRO, is having a significant positive impact across the (the precursor to modern Wi-Fi). globe,” said Mr Brendan Dalton, Chief Information Officer, CSIRO. In 1992, five researchers from CSIRO’s then Radiophysics Division In 2011, CSIRO donated the four main hardware components used developed a technological breakthrough in advanced WLAN, which in the original WLAN prototype test-bed to the National Museum.
16 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
Mary O’Kane wins Ada Lovelace Medal
Professor Mary O’Kane AC FTSE, the NSW Chief benefited the people of Australia, but also Scientist and Engineer, has won the inaugural people in communities throughout the world. Ada Lovelace Medal for an Outstanding Woman She is a remarkable Australian, and a truly Engineer, a new national award that recognises worthy recipient of the Ada Lovelace Medal the contribution Australian women have made for an Outstanding Woman Engineer.” to the profession and to wider society. The Ada Lovelace Medal is named for Augusta Ada Byron, later Countess Ada “Mary O’Kane has made an outstanding Lovelace, an English mathematician who and lasting contribution to Australia through worked on Charles Babbage’s revolutionary her intellect, tenacity and commitment, and mechanical general-purpose computer, the through numerous and diverse roles over the Analytical Engine. Her remarkable notes past 30 years,” said Professor Mark Hoffman on the engine in the 1840s include what FTSE, Dean of Faculty of Engineering at the is recognised today as the first computer University of New South Wales, which created algorithm, making her the world’s first the award. computer programmer. Mark Hoffman and Mary O’Kane. “She has been involved in many fields: Professor O’Kane said she was honoured from her original specialisation of speech to be recognised. “In my role, I have the or leading 10 Cooperative Research Centres”. recognition and artificial intelligence, to privilege to meet and work alongside many UNSW says it is ranked in the world’s stimulating Australian innovation, national wonderful women engineers, and witness top 50 engineering faculties, and is home energy policy, higher education, international first-hand the contribution they make across to Australia’s largest cohort of engineering development, computing and the fostering of a diverse range of disciplines. undergraduate, postgraduate, domestic and young women and early career researchers,” “That is why I am particularly humbled international students. he added. to receive the inaugural Ada Lovelace Medal Professor Hoffman, who became Dean “Her career shows what a vital from UNSW – a university that has been an of Engineering in 2015, has set a goal to contribution women can make to engineering, exemplar in appointing women engineers to raise female representation among students, and to the nation, and we hope many more senior leadership positions, and fostering the staff and researchers to 30 per cent by 2020. women will be inspired by her example.” next generation of women engineers through Currently, 23 per cent of first year UNSW Dr Richard Sheldrake AM FTSE, a former its first-class courses,” said Professor O’Kane. engineering students are female (versus the Director-General of the NSW Department of UNSW’s Faculty of Engineering describes Australian average of 17 per cent), which is Primary Industries, ATSE NSW Division Chair itself as the “powerhouse of engineering up from 21 per cent in 2015. In industry, only and one of the Professor O’Kane’s nominators, research in Australia, comprising of nine about 13 per cent of engineers are female, a said her “contributions have not only schools, 21 research centres and participating ratio that has been growing slowly for decades.
FIRST FEMALE SURVEYOR GENERAL NAMED s Narelle Underwood has been appointed contributed to the Surveying consider a career in MNSW Surveyor General – becoming the Student Society, serving as both surveying. first female Surveyor General in Australia. treasurer and president and “There is a Acting Principal Surveyor at NSW Roads is currently a member of the severe shortage and Maritime Services, she is NSW’s 25th School of Civil and Environmental of Registered Surveyor General since Augustus Alt was Engineering Industry Advisory Land Surveyors in appointed to the position in 1787 before his Committee. Narelle Underwood. Australia so we’re arrival with the First Fleet. She has won a total of nine working to lifting the Ms Underwood has worked as an adviser industry awards for her innovation and profile of the profession,” she said. to the Board of Surveying and Spatial commitment to quality outputs, including the “With technology changing so rapidly, we Information and Chair of the Surveying Asia–Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards Young really don’t know what will be happening in Mapping and Industry Council. Professional of the Year in 2011. five or 110 years, what people will need and While studying at the University of NSW, She is currently working with two how data and information will be used. It’s she won the Dean’s Award twice and the professional bodies on the NSW Surveying an open book, which makes this profession University Medal on graduation. She also Task Force to encourage more graduates to extremely exciting.”
www.atse.org.au 17 31956_CRICOS PROVIDER NO 00121B NO PROVIDER 31956_CRICOS Inspired Partnered Excellence
At the University of South Australia, our approach to research is simple – we are inspired by industry to produce the extraordinary. A great example of this is the development of a world first plastic automotive rear view mirror by our specialist thin-film coating science, industry-focused research team. The team is led by Professor Peter Murphy, Leader of the Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Strand at UniSA’s Future Industries Institute and the 2016 recipient of the ATSE Clunies Ross Innovation Award. To learn more about our flexible approach to business and our research please visit unisa.edu.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
BUILDING STEM STUDENT NUMBERS Fellows drive Professor Monro said there had been a lot of talk about the need to get more students Women in STEM agenda studying STEM skills to equip them for the jobs of tomorrow and that for Australia to Two ATSE Fellows contributed to an online have the right mix of high value jobs and discussion on Women in STEM on the Science industries to maintain or improve our quality Meets Business website in September. of life, it needed more people with the digital and data-related skills that these jobs require. Dr Mark Toner FTSE, Gender Equity “A natural assumption would be that the Working Group Chair, contributed a thinkpiece reason we need to encourage students to on why women leave STEM careers. ATSE study science and other STEM skills is to boost Vice President Professor Tanya Monro FAA our research clout – the cohort of technically FTSE, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and trained people within Australia’s university Innovation at the University of South Australia, Mark Toner and publicly funded research laboratories,” focused on the need to build STEM skills. she said. Dr Toner asked why the subject of women “While of course Australia’s research in STEM was so important right now? capabilities are a pivotal element of our “To answer this, it might be useful to innovation ecosystem, this misses the point. analyse the issue on two levels – national and “In my view, the areas where we personal. desperately need more graduates with STEM At the national level, Australia needed skills include industry, government, politics far more young people taking up careers in and the entrepreneurial domain. STEM, he said. “The ability to use complex data to make “According to our Prime Minister, 75 per evidence-based decisions has never been cent of our fastest-growing industries more critical for decision-making – whether require skills in STEM. But women are greatly that be in the corporate boardroom, the under-represented in this sector. Hence the executive suite, or the cabinet room. Australian Government’s new Women in STEM “Most of the global challenges we face – and Entrepreneurship grant program, which from climate change to cyber crime – require commits $8 million to encourage women to a sophisticated understanding of STEM and choose and develop a STEM career.” basic STEM skills. He noted ATSE’s STELR Project and the Tanya Monro “Technology offers solutions to many SAGE program, in which ATSE is a partner emerging problems. But experience from the with the Academy of Science, as examples ¢ isolation associated with being the only nuclear debate to genetically modified crops of national programs aiming to increase woman in a team; tells us that when communities aren’t equipped the numbers of women in STEM. He also ¢ difference in work styles between men with a good understanding of the scientific noted that the engineering profession had and women; process and complexities behind these issues, it been slow to promote the excitement and ¢ inflexible and long working hours; is extraordinarily difficult to secure the societal opportunities for men and women who ¢ lack of career advancement; and licence required to introduce transformative choose engineering careers. ¢ lack of self-confidence. technological solutions. At the personal level – women were just A current topic in the gender space was “There are some STEM fields where as ambitious and competent as men in STEM, unconscious bias, Dr Toner said. “This is a less we need to focus serious effort on getting he said. obvious reason for too few women in STEM more girls to engage – in particular, IT and and women leaving STEM careers. engineering. Both areas are so critical to UNDER REPRESENTATION “There is no doubt that women in Australia’s future that we simply can’t afford to “Their under-representation in the sector academia and business suffer from people be building on half our talent base,” she said. has a number of causes. An obvious one is with both unintentional (unconscious) and “We can’t afford to wait for more girls to that too few girls choose science and maths deliberate (conscious) gender bias, and the select these traditionally male-dominated subjects at school, thereby preventing them common misunderstanding that unconscious careers. from later choosing a career in STEM. But the bias training eliminates this bias is unfortunate. “We need to be proactive in creating sector also suffers from too many women “The reality is that such training is useful, pathways and incentives for girls to enter leaving STEM careers early.” but is only the first step to managers and staff these fields. We also need to provide much Research showed multiple reasons: members making less biased decisions about better systems and cultures to retain our ¢ hostility in the workplace; their people.” capable women in STEM and research.”
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contact with her,” said Dr Alexandra Two Fellows honoured Bannigan, Manager of the UNSW Women in Engineering program. in UNSW awards UNSW has also inaugurated the Maria Skyllas-Kazakos Young The inaugural Judy Raper Award for Leadership, made by the Professional Award for Outstanding University of NSW, has been won by Ms Athena Venios, Technical Achievement, which has been won by and Group Director at the engineering firm AECOM. Monique Alfris, co-founder and director of Pollinate Energy. Named for University of Wollongong Deputy Vice-Chancellor Pollinate Energy is an award- (Research) Professor Judy Raper FTSE, the award honours the winning, not-for-profit social enterprise achievements of Ms Venios, who has worked on major projects founded in 2012 that provides access in water and transport, holding leadership roles in transport and to affordable clean energy to improve infrastructure programs for major sporting events, including the the lives of poor people living in India’s Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, the Melbourne Commonwealth urban slums. Previously she worked Games and the Melbourne Grand Prix. to develop micro-financing in several She founded and chaired the KBR Women’s Professional Asian countries, and in a number of Engagement group and has been vice-chair of Engineers Australia’s green building consultancy roles in Women in Engineering Sydney Division. She holds a bachelor’s degree Africa and Australia. in civil engineering from UNSW. She has a bachelor’s degree “Athena’s passion for excellence in engineering not only ensures in photovoltaics and solar energy that she excels in her work, but that she inspires all who come into engineering from UNSW. “Monique’s work at Pollinate Energy has improved the livelihood of almost 60,000 people through the distribution of technologies such as solar lights, cook-stoves and water filters,” said Professor Darren Bagnall, Judy Raper Head of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW, one of her nominators. “Her passion to make a positive difference is only matched by her passion for the profession of engineering.” The award is named for Emeritus Professor Maria Skyllas-Kazakos AM FTSE who is known worldwide as the scientific researcher and Maria Skyllas-Kazakos pioneer who is credited with the invention of the Vanadium Redox Battery. A chemical engineer, she won the 1998 Chemeca Medal.
efence researcher Kayla Johnson has won the Best Young DEFENCE DScientist Award at the International Conference on Traffic and RESEARCHER Transport Psychology (ICTTP), recognising her lead-author role in the TAKES multi-author paper ‘Early morning high-dose caffeine mitigates driving AWARD performance decrements during sleep deprivation’. Kayla’s team, led by Defence researcher Dr Eugene Aidman, has Kayla Johnson studied cognitive fatigue and drowsiness countermeasures for more than 10 years and she has been instrumental in developing the team’s sharply focused collaborative research program investigating cognitive fitness, its assessment and enhancement through tailored training, operator functional state monitoring and cognitive augmentation technologies. The program has rapidly grown into a multi-partner international engagement involving a score of university and R&D industry stakeholders. Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky FTSE congratulated Kayla.
20 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS ATSE IN ACTION
Elizabeth Broderick is 2016 Orator
Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Ms Elizabeth Broderick AO will be the Academy’s 2016 Orator and will address the 2016 Oration Dinner in Melbourne at the Intercontinental Hotel on Friday 25 November.
Ms Broderick is Chair of the Expert Advisory Group of the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Initiative, in which ATSE Elizabeth Broderick is partnering with the Academy of Science, that will Champion the SAGE initiative and provide expert strategic and gender equity economic security for women, balancing Change strategy. advice to ensure a successful implementation paid work and unpaid caring responsibilities, The dinner will also see the formal and evaluation of the SAGE Pilot program. promoting women’s representation in induction of the 2016 Fellows and officially Ms Broderick was Sex Discrimination leadership and strengthening gender equality mark ATSE’s 40 years of technology advice for Commissioner from 2007 to 2015. She was laws and agencies. Australia. also the Commissioner responsible for Age She has been a key advocate for The new Fellows will earlier in the day Discrimination from September 2007 until Australia’s national paid parental leave share highlights of their work and careers in July 2011. scheme and domestic violence reform. She brief presentations to Fellows following the During her term, she was committed has championed the changes to the ASX Annual General Meeting, at the same venue. to improving gender equality through her Corporate Governance Principles to increase Prior to the AGM, two of ATSE’s topic advocacy in preventing violence against women the number of women at decision-making forums will present seminars on Health and sexual harassment, improving lifetime level and developed the Male Champions of Technology and Mineral Resources.
SEVEN RESEARCHERS SIX KOREANS TAKE NEXT STEPS VISIT AUSTRALIA even Australian researchers have been selected by an ATSE expert ix Korean scientists visited Australia in August in an exchange Spanel to participate in the 2016 Next Steps Initiative, receiving Sprogram between the two countries organised by ATSE as part of funding to support travel to China. the Australia–Korea Emerging Research Leaders Exchange Program. This program offers small travel grants, of up to $3600, and is They were in Australia for two weeks as part of a scheme which open to the Australian Young Scientist Exchange Program (YSEP) is targeted at mid-career researchers of both countries who are participants who visited China in November 2015, as well as those emerging leaders in the science and technology community. who hosted Chinese YSEP participants in 2015. The participants were: Dr Jeewoo Ryu, Korea Institute of The Australian researchers are all from Australian universities and Information Communication Engineering; Associate Professor are visiting Chinese academic institutions. Miyoung Lee, Kookmin University; Associate Professor See Hoon Dr Amir Karton, from the University of Western Australia (Nanjing Lee, Chonbuk National University; Associate Professor Jong Mo Seo, University), Dr Georgios Konstantinou, from the University of New Seoul National University; Professor Hyu Yong Park, Chonbuk National South Wales (Beijing Jiaotong University, University of the Chinese University; and Associate Professor Hyo Lee, Sangmyung University. Academy of Sciences) and Dr Gunther Paul, Queensland University of The first Exchange Program occurred in August 2014 with ATSE Technology (Sun-Yat-Sen-University) visited China in September. organising a two-week program for six Korean participants visiting Dr Shan He, from Flinders University (Academy of Agricultural Australia. In May 2015, six Australian researchers travelled to Korea. Science), Dr Travis Beddoe, from La Trobe University (Zhejiang Their study focus included cloud computing, mobile office University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University) and Dr Yanhua Luo, from environments, energy conversion, eyesight research, ageing UNSW (Harbin Engineering University) will visit China in December. populations and sport and exercise psychology. Dr Ruslan Puscasu, from the University of Queensland (Beijing The program is supported by the Australian Government through General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Yunnan Diqing the Australia–Korea Foundation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Non-ferrous Metals Industry Co [Chinalco]) will travel in early 2017. Trade, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
www.atse.org.au 21 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 ATSE IN ACTION
ATSE argues against BATTERHAM MEDAL WINNER CHOSEN funding cut proposal he Batterham Medal Selection TCommittee has chosen the 2016 ATSE argued against two legislative this role by not proceeding with the proposed winner of the Award, which will be proposals in a submission to the Senate savings. presented at ATSE’s Oration Dinner on 25 Economics Legislation Committee’ Inquiry Second, ATSE noted, the Bill proposed November in Melbourne. into Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016. reductions to the tax offset rate claimable under The Batterham Medal is an early the Research & Development Tax Incentive. career award for a graduate engineer The Bill sought to realise the savings “A review of the Incentive has recently been who has achieved substantial peer/ from the 2014-15 Budget related to cuts to completed by the Chair of Innovation & Science industry recognition for his/her work in the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Australia, the Chief Scientist and the Secretary of the past five years. (ARENA) – a $1.3 billion cut that ATSE says the Treasury, which included consultation with The award was more accessible to would essentially abolish ARENA in its current the research and innovation sectors,” ATSE said. women engineers this year, making form, moving it from being a grant-awarding “Given that the recommendations of this allowance for applicants who had agency to a debt and equity investor (via the review for improving the Incentive to increase taken career breaks for family or carer Clean Energy Finance Corporation). Australian innovation have not yet been responsibilities. ATSE strongly urged the Senate to released, nor responded to by Government, it The 2016 Selectiopn Committee was: reconsider this change, noting that the would seem premature to make changes such ¢ Mr Richard Kell AM FTSE, Senior types of projects supported by ARENA as that proposed in the Bill. Consultant at Cardno and President were generally earlier stage demonstration “The Incentive is a vital component of (2003-05) of the International projects that would be unlikely to attract Australia’s innovation system, and ATSE Federation of Consulting Engineers commercial financial support on a debt and strongly encourages the Senate to postpone (chair); equity basis alone. any changes until after the review has been ¢ Professor Elanor Huntington, Dean of ARENA played a critical role in ensuring released.” Engineering and Computer Science, that the R&D required to enable increased The amended Bill was passed by both Australian National University; use of renewable energy in Australia was chambers in September, with a cut of $500 ¢ Emeritus Professor Robin King FTSE, supported, ATSE said, urging the Senate and million to the ARENA budget, and the review Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the the Government to ensure ARENA continued was also released for comment. Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment at the University of South Australia; ¢ Mr Clive Weeks AO FTSE, former CEO BASFORD LEADS TSE Director and chair of its International and Chair of engineering consultancy CAETS TEAM ACollaboration Strategic Leadership GHD; Group, Professor Kaye Basford FTSE, led ¢ Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Julie Hammer the ATSE delegation to the annual CAETS AM CSC FTSE, former RAAF electronic Symposium in London in September. engineer and the first women to Executive Manager Policy and Projects command an RAAF operational unit; Dr Matt Wenham and Senior International ¢ Professor Karen Reynolds FTSE, ATSE Relations and Policy Officer Dr Carolyn Director, Chair of the Academy’s O’Brien also attended, as well as Professor Health Technology Forum, Professor Max Lu FTSE (Vice-Chancellor at the of Biomedical Engineering at Flinders University of Surrey). University, SA Scientist of the Year Dr Marlene Kanga AM FTSE also 2012 and Australian Professional attended in her capacity as President-elect Engineer of the Year 2010; and for the World Federation of Engineering ¢ Ms Denise Goldsworthy FTSE, Chair Organisations (WFEO). of the Academy’s Mineral Resources ATSE has also nominated two young Forum, Principal of Alternate Futures, Australian engineers, Angela Rozali and Chair of ChemCentre WA and 2010 Judd Harris, to attend the Young Engineers Telstra Australian Businesswomen of Leadership Day on 12 September in London, the Year. hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Kaye Basford and Max Lu in London.
22 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS ATSE IN ACTION
STELR takes STEM to Bogor
STELR will conduct a five-day STEM Participants workshop in Bogor, Indonesia, at the end at the 2015 workshop. of October, following on from its inaugural Bogor workshop last October.
The 2016 workshop will be held at the SEAMEO BIOTROP Centre for Tropical Biology from 31 October to 4 November, with an anticipated 50 participants, up from 35 teachers and trainers from eight South-East Asian countries last year. ¢ water for the 21st century; international organisation with the purpose The workshop will be conducted by Peter ¢ car safety; and of establishing cooperation in education, Pentland and Pennie Stoyles, who run the STELR ¢ STELR resources and curriculum planning. science, and culture in the South-East Asian project from the ATSE Office, Dr Greg Smith, The program is organised by the SEAMEO region. STELR school mentor and lecturer in science Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of The SEAMEO Regional Centre for QITEP education at Charles Darwin University, and Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Science has the vision to be the centre of Barbara Jensen from Southern Cross University. in Science and the workshop will be opened excellence in professional development of The program will cover the following topics: by Dr Didik Suhardi, Secretary General of the teachers and education personnel in science ¢ what is STELR; Indonesian Ministry Education and Culture. towards sustainable development in South- ¢ teaching energy concepts; Orica has recently donated class sets of East Asia. Its mission is to provide relevant and ¢ wind and solar energy activities; STELR Renewable Energy equipment to three quality programs in professional development ¢ technology activities; schools in Bontang, East Kalimantan, and will for science teachers and education personnel. ¢ STEM and inquiry-based science learning; sponsor six teachers from these schools to The QITEP in Science has translated STELR ¢ global warming and oceans; attend the workshop. Renewable Energy curriculum materials ¢ sustainable housing and sustainability; The South-East Asian Ministers into Indonesian and uses STELR Renewable ¢ maths activities for housing and of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Energy and Sustainable Housing equipment renewable energy; was established in 1965 as a chartered sets in its teacher training workshops.
SA SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHING AWARD CAS-AAS-ATSE ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM rs Kate Morgante, of Gleeson College, Golden Grove, in dvanced materials were the focus of the CAS-AAS-ATSE 2016 Annual MAdelaide’s outer north-east, has won the South Australian ASymposium, organised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Division’s prize for high school science teaching for 2016. Academy of Science and ATSE, in September in Ningbo, China. The Division annually sponsors the prize, which is presented at The Symposium covered three themes: the SA Grand Challenge for the Science and Engineering Challenge, a ¢ advanced materials fundamentals – material properties, nationwide STEM outreach program by the University of Newcastle. characterisation, modelling, theory; ¢ advanced materials research – nanomaterials, biomaterials, materials design, composites; and ¢ advanced materials industrial applications – polymers, metal alloys, energy and environment, advanced fibre composites, electronics and photonics, aerospace. ATSE was represented by Interim President Professor Peter Gray FTSE, who presented with AAS President Dr Andrew Holmes FAA FTSE on advanced materials in the physical and biological sciences in Australia. Professor Xinhua Wu, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals at Monash University, also attended. Professor Murray Scott FTSE (Chairman, Advanced Composite Structures Australia SA Divison Chair Dr Meera Verma presents the award and former CEO, CRC for Advanced Composite Structures) was ATSE’s to Kate Morgante. representative on the planning committee for the Symposium.
www.atse.org.au 23 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 ATSE IN ACTION
ATSE finalises REA report TRANSFORMING TOWARDS ZERO EMISSIONS ATSE has completed its report for the Department of Education here is a race to the bottom that every advanced economy wants and Training (DET) on research engagement – the latest step Tto win – the race to the zero-emissions world – according to in its campaign for better assessment of research impact and Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO FAA FTSE. engagement. He addressed this challenge to a sell-out crowd of 130 at the NSW Division’s Luncheon in the City event in August, asking if ATSE released Research Engagement for Australia: Measuring Australia had the capacity to be a player and what was the best research engagement between universities and end users in March, strategy to achieve impact at scale. which highlighted the outcomes of a pilot of the Research He questioned how Australia and the world could transition Engagement for Australia (REA) metrics conducted in collaboration to zero emissions, when coal was an increasing percentage of the with all South Australian and Queensland universities. global energy mix and renewables, while growing more quickly, The REA metrics use external income data already collected as currently made up just 12 per cent. part of the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) exercise to generate He noted that three proven technologies – wind, solar
measures of university engagement with research end-users. thermal and solar PV – had the lowest CO2 emissions and were DET then commissioned ATSE to further investigate the REA ripe for large-scale deployment. Prices were falling rapidly and metrics to: were now comparable with fossil-fuel generation. ¢ inform the development of the national assessment of the Storage, in the form of batteries, hydrogen, pumped hydro engagement and impact of university research; and and biomass, were part of the solution, as were large-scale grid ¢ help universities prepare for the national assessment of the interconnects to smooth out intermittency, he said. engagement and impact of university research by providing them Dr Finkel reiterated that climate change was a serious with benchmarking information. challenge that could not be ignored and required a plan, and the The report aims to help inform the Engagement and Impact high-level vision and strategy to carry it out. He noted that change Assessment development groups being run by DET and the Australian on this scale could only be directed by governments, but private Research Council (ARC). sector investments and visionary leadership was paramount. All 41 Australian universities participated, and ATSE used their ERA 2015 data, supplied by the ARC, to calculate the REA metrics for all universities across all disciplines. ATSE also received additional data from 21 universities on their research extension and consulting income, which was used to conduct an assessment of the feasibility and impact of collecting this data on a wider scale. The ARC will pilot the engagement and impact assessment in 2017 Richard Sheldrake (left), Alan Finkel, Martin Thomas, Peter Tyree and the first national assessment and reporting will take place in 2018 and Richard Kell at the lunch. as a companion to the ERA.
SEVENTY-FOUR PRIMING GRANTS ANNOUNCED range of innovative, technology–business projects have been engagements, those projects partnering with the EU, the US and Aawarded in the first round of Priming Grants program of the China represented close to 80 per cent of all grants awarded. Global Connections Fund. The awards are available for review on the Global Connections The Priming Grants program is managed by ATSE as part of the Fund website. Australian Government’s Global Innovation Strategy funded under the Dr Margaret Hartley FTSE, Chief Executive Officer of ATSE, said: “It Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA). is a privilege to see so many diverse and unique projects underway in The 74 first-round grants were announced by Industry, Innovation Australia. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for the amount and Science Minister Greg Hunt. Worth $7000, they support early of innovative and creative activity that is going on across Australia stage international researcher–SME engagement in key industry and this is often not seen until it surfaces through a program like this. priority areas: advanced manufacturing; food and agribusiness; It bodes well for our creative future and the linking of our researchers medical technology and pharmaceuticals; mining equipment, and our business on a global scale.” technology and services; and oil, gas and energy resources. The Global Connection Fund supports collaborative projects The advanced manufacturing sector was awarded the highest with 17 priority economies and forms part of the Global Innovation percentage of grants (43 per cent) in this round. Strategy under the Australian Government’s National Innovation and While there was a wide spectrum of international partner Science Agenda.
24 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS NEWS
Maths literacy “a concern for all”
What happens outside the maths class students in mathematical literacy has “Preliminary analysis suggests there is just as important in improving maths declined over the past decade. are both whole-school factors and maths literacy as what happens in maths class, “The results show both a decrease in the classroom factors influencing students’ according to the Australian Council for proportion of high-achieving students and an decisions to persist with higher-level Educational Research (ACER). increase in the proportion of low-achieving mathematics beyond Year 10,” she said. students,” Dr Thomson said. “Whole-school factors that It notes that achievement in mathematics The problem doesn’t stop there. While seem to matter are pastoral care and has declined over the past 10 years, while Australian students studying maths are being subject selection guidance, and early engagement in science, technology, outperformed by their international peers, identification of mathematical capability engineering and mathematics (STEM) many students are choosing to forgo maths and flexible placement of students in subjects has also been declining. altogether. class groups that extend their capabilities, “There is no doubt that our achievement “Secondary school students are Professor Goos said. level in mathematics is slipping,” said Dr Sue increasingly opting out of mathematics “While mathematics teachers have Thomson, Director of Educational Monitoring subjects that provide the knowledge base an important role to play in encouraging and Research at ACER. for tertiary degrees, thus closing down aspirational mathematics subject choices, According to Program for International opportunities for employment and further teachers of all subjects are responsible Student Assessment (PISA) results, the study,” said Professor Merrilyn Goos from the for developing their students’ subject- performance of 15-year-old Australian University of Queensland. specific numeracies.”
SCIENCE COUNCIL BACKS FOCUSED TEACHER PD RV Investigator he Commonwealth Science Council has backed consideration of a Trequirement for discipline-specific professional development for teachers as part of the review of school funding. The Council has also encouraged a greater subject-specific focus in teacher training. At its fourth meeting in Canberra in September, the Council highlighted the important leadership role of school principals in providing comprehensive support for science and mathematics teaching in their schools. The Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, is responsible for providing advice to the Prime Minister and other Ministers on important science and technology issues facing Australia. INVESTIGATOR TO HOST It includes the Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AO FAA FTSE CAPSTAN LEARNING (Executive Officer), Dr Michael Chaney AO FTSE, Professor Ian Frazer AC FRS FAA FTSE, Mr David Knox FTSE, Ms Catherine Livingstone AO FAA SIRO will use its research vessel RV Investigator as a floating classroom FTSE and Professor Tanya Monro FAA FTSE. Cto give students and trainers dedicated time onboard to expose them Members noted that demand for STEM capabilities in the to a range of world-class scientific equipment and technology. workforce is projected to strengthen across the economy and agreed The postgraduate training initiative is called CAPSTAN – the importance of recognising the role of STEM proficiency in current Collaborative Australian Postgraduate Sea Training Alliance Network and future jobs, and the value of STEM graduates in an increasingly – and will provide a collaborative national approach to teaching future broad range of roles. generations of marine scientists and mariners. Members noted that the Government has already made great The CAPSTAN program will complement other marine science strides in positioning the education system to build this critical skill- education activities that CSIRO provides, including ship tours for base, but further opportunities for action remain, for governments as students and a training program that will put secondary school well as the Chief Scientist, the education sector and industry. teachers on board RV Investigator alongside scientists conducting The Council acclaimed progress made in preparing the National marine research. Research Infrastructure Roadmap, which would be a valuable tool for The first participants in the CAPSTAN program are expected to Government and research stakeholders in reaching decisions on future join a transit voyage on RV Investigator later next year. The CAPSTAN financing and research directions. application process is expected to open in early 2017.
www.atse.org.au 25 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016
BY PETER PENTLAND, EXECUTIVE MANAGER ATSE SCHOOLS PROGRAM [email protected]
STELR is STEM – and it’s in more than 500 schools ATSE IN ACTION Ideally, a STEM program should be ‘taught’ by a team of teachers offering expertise in science, mathematics and technologies (making things and coding things).
IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN ¢ STELR is the acronym for Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance. ¢ The STELR Project is ATSE’s national For the past few years Program, which is supporting 20 existing STEM school education initiative. STEM (science, technology, initiatives (including ATSE’s STELR program) to ¢ The STELR architect was Dr Alan Finkel F engineering and develop business and marketing strategies. AO FAA FTSE, former ATSE President mathematics) has been and now Chief Scientist of Australia. ‘flavour of the month’ for KEY QUESTIONS ¢ The STELR Project is running in more education and business sectors, both in There are three key questions to address. than 530 schools in all states and Australia and internationally. The Office of What is STEM? territories with 50,000 students and the Chief Scientist, in conjunction with the Many state education jurisdictions have over 1500 teachers involved each year. Australian Industry Group, released the STEM STEM initiatives. Victoria, for example, ¢ To date, STELR has benefited more Program Index 2016, which lists 250 STEM launched VicSTEM – STEM in the Education than 250,000 students. programs across Australia. State in September. Queensland recently ¢ STELR is also operating in schools in Almost all these programs are launched Advance Queensland – Engaging South-East Asia and New Zealand. extracurricular – unlike ATSE’s STELR initiative Queenslanders in Science, which aims to (an acronym for Science and Technology build teacher capacity and engage more Education Leveraging Relevance) – and have students in STEM. of one teacher and the areas of expertise of little impact on students’ outcomes. Other state initiatives include the South these teachers. Some schools have a STEM The national focus on STEM education Australia STEM skills strategy and STEM NSW. policy and whole-school ownership, setting is indicated by the fact that PwC, the The NSW initiative includes a program called up STEM rooms with 3D printers, laser cutters, multinational professional services network, iSTEM, which was developed in the Hunter drone sets and robotics kits. Some schools take has released two reports over the past two Valley using, in part, the STELR renewable existing programs and rebrand them as STEM. years on STEM education. energy equipment packs. iSTEM is now being There is no overall STEM teaching template. The first (April 2015) was A Smart Move - implemented in other states. Demand for STEM skills will generate the next Many schools are calling themselves Who ‘owns’ STEM in these schools? wave of growth. STEM schools but, in general, STEM programs It usually comes down to a STEM subject Key findings of this report include: do not rely on students being sufficiently being taught by either the science or the ¢44 per cent, or 5.1 million, current exposed to science, mathematics and technology departments. It is often offered Australian jobs are at risk from digital technology as they go through their regular to students as an elective subject. This disruption in 20 years; schooling. They bring these areas of learning raises the issue of ensuring that the elective ¢75 per cent of the fast-growing together in STEM classes. encourages participation by girls and other occupations require STEM skills; and underrepresented groups. I learned of one ¢70 per cent of Australian employers What does STEM look like in schools? school that had more than 60 students identify STEM employees as being the There are many different models for STEM enrolling in the STEM elective, but there were most innovative. in schools across Australia. Many schools are only three girls involved. The second (March 2016) was Making content to cover STEM through existing subjects. Ideally, a STEM program should be ‘taught’ STEM a primary priority, which recommends This approach does not integrate the learning by a team of teachers offering expertise providing access to a specialist STEM teacher areas and do not use contexts. Students are not in science, mathematics and technologies for every Australian primary school. shown how everything ties together. (making things and coding things). PwC has put its money where its mouth In most cases, the way STEM programs are This enables teaching through contexts is with its 21st Century Minds Accelerator implemented comes down to the enthusiasm or themes that are relevant to the students. It
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opens opportunities to better engage students authentic and complex problems. and individual state requirements. Teachers with mathematics by demonstrating the answer STELR uses a hands-on, inquiry-based are shown how STELR activities apply to the to the eternal student question, ‘When are we pedagogy. The STELR modules can be science, mathematics, design and technology ever going to use this?’, while also giving due adapted to utilise in-demand technologies and digital technologies. consideration for that other student question, such as coding, robotics and data analysis. Pedagogy ‘Do we have to know this for the exam?’ STELR also provides career profiles via a 3STELR is inquiry-based and student- By having a team of teachers, students range of media platforms that show students centred. STELR provides support and training, will be able to cover traditional subject what is involved in STEM careers and the study acknowledging that many teachers are content but also be able to pursue their own pathways needed to enter these careers. teaching ‘out-of-field’. inquiries. They can engage with design and By participating in STELR classes, teachers Equipment kits engineering process by designing, making, and school leaders themselves are able to 4STELR provides (sells) sets of purpose- testing, evaluating and modifying machines. become STEM learners therefor become more built Australian-designed and manufactured Students will also collect and analyse effective in leading STEM programs. equipment that are used to explore relevant their own data, rather than just analysing technologies, such as: renewable energy; meaningless sets of data given to them by the STELR IS BUILT ON FOUR PILLARS. wind energy; solar cars; electricity and teacher. Relevance energy; and sustainable housing. Coding (and robotics) can easily be 1STELR uses contexts that are relevant incorporated into STEM activities. For and engaging to students – such as climate iSTELR example, students can build and program a change, renewable energy, sustainable STELR lessons are available in web-based device that will allow STELR solar panels to housing and water in the 21st century – format delivered by long-term partner Stile track the sun, or make the STELR solar car and also incorporates the cross-curriculum Education. The Stile content delivery system follow a pathway around the school grounds. priorities of Australia’s National Curriculum: operates on all systems – iPad, Android, PC, Sustainability; Asia and Australia’s smart phones and so on. STELR IN STEM SCHOOLS engagement with Asia; and Aboriginal and STELR provides the content including STELR produces interdisciplinary and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures teacher support materials. Teachers are able problem-based modules that encourage STELR will run a STEM workshop for to fully edit the content and activities to suit deeper learning through real-world projects. educators from South-East Asian countries their class’s needs and interests and their own It uses contexts that are relevant to the in Indonesia in November this year. To help expertise. They can also keep the up-to-date students’ lives and concerns, for example make STELR more relevant in all communities, by embedding the latest news and discoveries. climate change and sustainability. an Indigenous writer has been employed to iSTELR facilitates implementation of the Students work in authentic ways – adapt STELR activities using the ‘eight ways of ‘flipped classroom’ where students watch through projects, plans and presentations learning for Indigenous students’ model. videos and complete assignments at home that mirror what they will be required to do in Curriculum and then carry out higher-order cognitive their careers and in further learning. 2STELR is intended to be taught as a part tasks in the classroom. Students are encouraged to work of the regular school program rather than just Students can upload videos, photos and independently and collaboratively. They learn being an extracurricular or elective program whole multimedia projects. Teachers can track the way scientists do – by asking questions that appeals to the ‘already converted’. To student submissions and keep records. that lead them to discover solutions to do this, it must be applicable to the national WHERE IS IT GOING? The eight ways of learning for Indigenous students model. ATSE is in the process of producing more STELR modules that integrate science, mathematics, Story Sharing Community Links technology and engineering components. We are working to provide more models for teachers of how they can turn maths and science lessons into technology and Learning Maps Deconstruct engineering projects. We are also going Reconstruct a step further to extend engineering and technology projects into entrepreneurship and social enterprises.
Non-verbal Non-linear We are also producing more career profiles, especially of women in STEM and entrepreneurial role models. ¤
• Readers who wish to support the STELR project can contact Peter Pentland at ATSE (03 9864 0906, Symbols and Images Land Links [email protected]).
www.atse.org.au 27 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 NEWS
Combining big solar and storage
An innovative project in far north Queensland is set to combine big battery storage and big solar to supply solar power after sundown and during peak usage times.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $17.4 million funding support for Conergy to build and operate a 10.8 MW (AC) solar photovoltaic plant with 1.4 MW / 5.3 MWh of lithium-ion The Redbank Plains radar dome. battery storage, near the town of Lakeland. The project will be connected to the Ergon Energy network. A REDBANK PLAINS WEATHER RESEARCH detailed battery testing plan will be implemented over the first two RADAR SIGNS OFF years of operations. he Bureau of Meteorology is decommissioning its CP2 Research ARENA CEO Mr Ivor Frischknecht said ARENA had worked with TRadar at Redbank Plains near Brisbane. Conergy to form a knowledge-sharing steering committee, joined by The Redbank dome is a prominent feature in the Ipswich BHP Billiton, Ergon Energy and Origin Energy. landscape, visible from Brisbane due to its elevated positon. “Sharing these unique lessons is expected to accelerate similar The CP2 Research Radar was originally a 1970s-era radar gifted developments across Australia,” Mr Frischknecht said. by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the “BHP Billiton will gain valuable insights into the potential for solar United States, which was upgraded to state of the art capability and storage to assist its remote operations, Ergon is considering if the and installed at Redbank Plains in December 2006. approach could help avoid network upgrade costs in other regional The radar was switched off late last year, and any reusable parts Queensland communities and Origin is buying the power from the plant.” are now in the process of being packed for return shipping to NCAR “Figuring out how solar PV and battery storage technologies as spare parts. The decommissioning of the radar will have no best work together at a large scale will be crucial for helping more impact on community safety as it has been used for research rather renewables enter our grids,” Mr Frischknecht said. than operational forecasting. “We know that battery storage will play a critical role in our future The Bureau says there will be no impact on its weather energy systems. The benefit of adding batteries to solar farms is simple forecasting services for the area, with Southeast Queensland well- – they store energy from the sun for use at peak times and overnight. served by two weather watch radars – at Mount Stapylton, near They can also smooth solar energy output on cloudy days. Beenleigh, and at Marburg, west of Ipswich. He said the plant would generate and store enough renewable The CP in its title stands for cloud physics, and the Bureau energy to power more than 3000 homes and create up to 60 jobs in the says the facility has been used in collaborative hydrological and Lakeland region during construction. meteorological research within Australia to inform advances Conergy, the project owner and developer, is one of the world’s in science, and drive ongoing improvement in the weather largest downstream solar companies, specialising in the development, forecasting and warning services delivered by the Bureau. design, finance, building and long-term asset management of Australia has the fourth largest weather radar network in the commercial, industrial and utility-scale solar power systems. It has been world and the highest number of radars per capita – providing one involved in more than 300 projects globally in more than 15 countries. of the most viewed and accessed services on the Bureau's website.
CSIRO TECH IN ENERGY-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EVERGEN PICTURE: enewable energy start-up Evergen has local weather to make smart decisions that Rlaunched Australia’s first intelligent reduce energy costs. home energy-management system, with the The system is remotely managed by technical backing of CSIRO. Evergen and regularly analysed and updated Combining solar panels and batteries with by CSIRO, which developed Evergen’s core smart technology, the system continuously energy management intelligence and analyses and optimises home energy use, provided research expertise to help Evergen choosing the most efficient source for the commercialise the product. household’s electricity supply at any given time, The Evergen system is now available to switching from solar to stored power as required. Australians in an early release program, with The system looks at the power a second-stage release program in January consumption patterns of each household and 2017. An Evergen system installed in a Sydney home.
28 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS NEWS
(From left) Rear Admiral Mayer, Mr Hicks, Dr Pond and Mr Chris Tindal, Director for Running the fleet Operational Energy at the US Department of Navy, aboard the USS Stethem. Alternative fuels and energy-efficient systems were key when the on alternative energy USS Stethem visited Sydney recently – driven by alternative fuel.
Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, welcomed the ship and US Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy for Management, Mr Thomas Hicks, at an event onboard the destroyer. Alternate fuels pioneer Dr Susan Pond AM FTSE was also on board. Rear Admiral Mayer said since Australia signed a statement of cooperation agreement with the US Navy in 2012, the Royal Australian Navy had progressed from testing one Seahawk helicopter on biofuels during Exercise RIMPAC in 2012, to three warships in 2016. One of the US Navy's carrier strike groups now deploys on alternative fuels, including nuclear power for the carrier and a blend of advanced biofuel made from beef fat and traditional petroleum for its escort ships. USS Stethem is a part of that group.
ARENA GRANTS PUSH SOLAR ENERGY TRIPLING welve new large-scale solar photovoltaic New arena solar projects T(PV) plants are set to be constructed Size ARENA Project across Australia, tripling the amount of Applicant Project name (MW AC) funding cost energy produced from big solar. Origin Energy Darling Downs Solar Farm 110.0 $20 m $216.7 m The 12 projects have been chosen as part Edify Energy with Solar Choice Whitsunday Solar Farm 58.1 $9.5 m $122.4 m of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Neoen Australia Parkes Solar Farm 50.6 $7.5 m $107.9 m Genex Power Kidston Solar Farm 50.0 $8.9 m $126.2 m (ARENA) multi-million-dollar large-scale solar Manildra Solar Farm Manildra Solar Farm 42.5 $10.9 m $109.3 m round, which is tagged as Australian solar’s RATCH Australia Corporation Collinsville Solar Power Station 42.0 $9.5 m $95.9 m brightest day. Neoen Australia Griffith Solar Farm 25.0 $5.0 m $54.6 m ARENA’s contribution of nearly $92 Canadian Solar (Australia) Oakey Solar Farm 25.0 $2.2 m $47.5 m million is expected to unlock almost $1 billion Neoen Australia Dubbo Solar Farm 24.2 $5.5 m $55.6 m of commercial investment and boost regional APT Pipeline (APA Group) Emu Downs Solar Farm 20.0 $5.5 m $47.2 m Australian economies. Goldwind Australia White Rock Solar Farm 20.0 $6.0 m $44.5 m “Six plants in Queensland, five plants Canadian Solar (Australia) Longreach Solar Farm 15.0 $1.3 m $28.7 m in NSW and one plant in Western Australia TOTAL 482.0 $91.7 m $1,056.4 m are slated for funding, in a major milestone that’s expected to triple Australia’s large-scale Twelve new ARENA-funded Australian solar projects. solar capacity from 240 MW to 720 MW,” said ARENA CEO Mr Ivor Frischknecht.
“They will provide enough energy to power Kidston Solar Park 50mw 150,000 average Australian homes and deliver Longreach Solar Farm 15mw one-tenth of the new capacity required to meet Australia’s 2020 renewable energy target. Collinsville Solar Power Station 42mw “Regional economies will benefit massively Whitsunday Solar Farm 58.1mw from the growing big solar industry, with 2300 Darling Downs Solar Farm 110mw direct jobs and thousands more indirect jobs Oakley Solar Farm 25mw expected to be created by this round. White Rock Solar Farm 20mw “Australia’s big solar revolution is Dubbo Solar Hub 24.2mw tantalisingly close and, as more home-grown businesses step up to provide construction, Manildra Solar Farm 42.5mw engineering and financial services, this Parkes Solar Farm 50.6mw
mw newest tranche of ARENA-supported projects Emu Downs Solar Farm 20 Griffith Solar Farm (Neoen)25 mw is well positioned to take the sector even closer to commerciality,” he said.
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BY TOM BIEGLER [email protected]
Energy and climate politics: a sceptical scientist’s view OPINION Renewable technologies feature in all plans to cut emissions. Can they deliver? Cost, reliability and scale are important issues for the feasibility of these plans. PHOTO: ISTOCK PHOTO:
Economics, not science, will carbon economy would dominate the future political come at a massive cost to E debate about climate their living standards”. change. The reason is simple Where does the truth – the science is more certain lie? In 2014 wind and than the economics. solar accounted for six per Scientific knowledge about carbon cent of our electricity and dioxide as a greenhouse gas has a long and less than one per cent of respectable history. The 43 per cent increase total energy. So, at the 40 Expect significant electrification of smaller vehicles.
in atmospheric CO2 caused by burning per cent mark the ZCA fossil fuels since the industrial revolution is trajectory did look very These economies are often seen as beacons undisputed. There may be some doubts about optimistic. Maybe Sheridan was right. for reducing energy consumption through the precise impact but the prudent course, at The first step in making these judgements improved efficiency. But they may well be
the very least, is to accept that CO2 emissions is to recognise energy’s key role in creating ‘free riders’ relying on energy intensive affect climate and try to lower them. wealth. It’s like a huge lever, enabled by science, industries elsewhere. The economics of reducing emissions is invention and engineering, and multiplying the The message from this consistent linkage more contentious. Take one example – the productivity of human effort alone. is that the avenues for reducing energy 10-year roadmap produced in 2010 by Zero All goods and services depend on energy. consumption are limited. An economy might Carbon Australia for 100 per cent renewable GDP is quantitatively related to energy raise its energy productivity by closing some energy by the year 2020, which is far more usage. The ratio of GDP to energy, called heavy industries but that probably just shifts ambitious than any current Australian policy. energy productivity (or its reciprocal, energy the energy burden elsewhere. As for efficiency The move towards an all-electric economy intensity), defines the connection. in personal or household energy consumption, powered by zero-emission renewables, ZCA In 2013 the global average energy most (more than 90 per cent) of the energy said, would be cheap, easy and painless. The productivity, in terms of US dollars (2005, at we account for goes into the goods, services, impression, as with many similar proposals purchasing power parity), was around $150/ infrastructure and so on that we consume or rely over recent years, was that we need only GJ (gigajoule, primary energy). Australia’s on, not just the kilowatt-hours or megajoules ‘bite the bullet’ about supporting renewable energy productivity was $165/GJ. Within 34 listed on our household energy bills. technologies, correct our wasteful energy OECD nations (the 35th, Latvia, joined later, in Renewable technologies feature in all habits and summon enough political will. 2016) it was somewhat higher, $180/GJ. There plans to cut emissions. Can they deliver? Cost, At the other extreme are opinions like has also been a global pattern of slowly rising reliability and scale are important issues for that of prominent political journalist Greg energy productivity. the feasibility of these plans. Sheridan. Treasury models predicting a cost Living standards tend to track energy Solar and wind technologies are to GDP of only 0.1 per cent per annum for usage closely. For example the 2013 GDPs advancing technically but still need cutting emissions, he wrote, were “based of 21 OECD members, accounting for 80 government support. They are low intensity on insane assumptions about the economic per cent of total OECD output, all fitted and intermittent. For continuity they require worth of technologies which had not yet the relation GDP = $(180 ± 45)/GJ. Some some form of electrical or thermal storage, been invented”. There was “a widespread economies, like Ireland and Switzerland, adding to costs. Prices of some components like pattern of a disinclination by Western political did better than this ±25 per cent spread, solar photovoltaic panels and lithium batteries leaders to tell their electorates (that) a low with nearly double the $180/GJ average. have been falling, but optimistic projections
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of renewable energy costs and of feasibility at It seems clear that future electricity will SAVINGS IN NEW utility scale still smack of wishful thinking. come from a portfolio of lower-emission MAGNESIUM TECHNOLOGY Geothermal and carbon capture and technologies. Gas, with half the emissions of SIRO and Enirgi Group have joined storage technologies have also been coal, will increase in importance, at least as an Cforces to develop and commercialise an prominent in future energy scenarios. Here, interim measure. affordable and low-emission technology for too, I believe that expectations have been Energy costs will rise. As further producing magnesium metal. unrealistic. They are not commercially electrification of industry and transport, The CSIRO-developed technology, known proven and their remaining technical risks combined with increased prosperity, bring as MagSonic, produces magnesium using up are significant, especially the challenges of even greater demand for electricity, it is to 80 per cent less energy and producing up managing large-scale process technologies difficult to see how climate and economic to 60 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions, deep underground. concerns can be met without nuclear thanks to a supersonic nozzle. As for transportation, expect oil to be power. Arguably the biggest energy policy Magnesium is the lightest of all metals and displaced by significant electrification of smaller challenge Australia faces is the electorate’s is in rising demand from car manufacturers vehicles powered by rechargeable batteries. antipathy towards this low-emission source, who are turning to the metal as a solution for Larger ‘muscle cars’ like Tesla don’t really fit with commonplace in much of the world. making lightweight, low-emission vehicles. a constrained energy future and, though now The politics of higher energy costs Dr Mark Cooksey, who leads CSIRO’s successful, will be seen as an aberration. flowing through the economy and affecting sustainable process engineering group, said For heavy transport, industrial economic wellbeing will be sensitive. Will the commercialisation of MagSonic would help take machinery, aircraft and so on, battery power economic burden be ‘massive’ (Sheridan) or advantage of Australia’s abundant reserves of remains problematic. Forget overhyped trivial (Treasury)? magnesite ore that remain largely untapped. hydrogen as a replacement fuel – over its full Governments like to believe that investing “The growth of magnesium use has been life cycle it’s too inefficient. Biofuels will be more in energy and related research will limited because it’s been too expensive and limited by land usage concerns. provide all the answers. Their (selective) faith labour-intensive to produce the metal from ore In the bigger picture energy is more than in research is, to a scientist, touching – but using traditional processes,” Dr Cooksey said. just electricity. For many major energy uses, research does not always translate to success. “Our MagSonic technology offers an like cement production and metallurgical Energy technologies seem peculiarly economically viable solution to overcome processing, switching from fossil fuels to subject to waves of uncritical optimism. A these issues and make clean magnesium more electricity will be challenging. And of course degree of scepticism is important for sound available and affordable to manufacturers.” every success will further add to the electricity energy policy. MagSonic uses carbothermal reduction demand from low-emission sources. I have selfishly concentrated on our own and a supersonic nozzle to efficiently An important fundamental issue prosperity, ignoring the economic aspirations produce high-quality magnesium. It involves known as energy return on investment of developing economies. They are being asked heating magnesia with carbon to extreme (EROI) is receiving increasing attention to give up cheap fossil fuels and make sacrifices temperatures to produce magnesium vapour from economists. EROI is a simple concept far beyond and carbon monoxide. when applied to traditional fuels like oil. It anything here. Not The vapour and carbon compares the energy contained in a barrel of surprisingly, they monoxide are passed oil with the energy used in finding, extracting are resisting. through a supersonic and refining it. Oil historically has an EROI As Professor nozzle – similar to a rocket of around 30 but as expected this has been Ross Garnaut said engine – at four times the decreasing as grades decline and extraction at the start of his speed of sound to cool requires more effort. trailblazing 2008 the gases in milliseconds, But how does one determine the EROI review on the condensing and solidifying for, say, a complete solar photovoltaic energy subject, “Climate the magnesium vapour to system? What is the break-even figure for a change is a magnesium metal. system EROI to be economically worthwhile diabolical policy and sustainable? Which energy technologies problem”. It is Wheel casting made out of Enirgi Group is a privately held international qualify? An EROI of unity is obviously the indeed. ¤ lightweight magnesium metal. specialty chemicals and diversified industrials barest minimum but figures of five and higher company with six unique divisions. Enirgi's Dr Tom Biegler FTSE was the author of the 2009 have been postulated as the lowest values ATSE report titled The hidden costs of electricity: Innovation Division specialises in industrial that would allow modern economies to run externalities of power generation in Australia. A engineering technology and has a track record sustainably. former research chemist, he was a divisional head in of delivering transformative solutions. Enirgi These are complex and contentious CSIRO’s Institute of Minerals, Energy and Construction Group has the option to take up an exclusive and later managed CSIRO’s Corporate Business matters. They deserve a mention here as I department. Since retiring from CSIRO he has been global licence that would see the company believe that ultimately they will be critical for consulting and writing on fuel cells, hydrogen and initially build a commercial-scale magnesium energy policy. other energy technology issues. production facility in Australia.
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Doubling battery power SolidEnergy’s lithium battery: third-generation technology. OLD LITHIUM for cars, phones METAL CARBON ANODE SILICON- A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spin-out is preparing COMPOSITE ULTRA-THIN ANODE LITHIUM METAL to commercialise a rechargable lithium metal battery that offers SEPARATOR SEPARATOR SEPARATOR SAFE ELECTROLYTE double the energy capacity of the lithium ion batteries that power many of today’s consumer electronics. CATHODE CATHODE CATHODE CATHODE
Gen 0 Gen 1 Gen 1 Gen 3 Li-Metal Li-ion Li-ion Li-Metal This means smartphone batteries that last twice as long and 100-200 Wh/kg 200-250 Wh/kg 250-300 Wh/kg 400-500 Wh/kg 200-300 Wh/L 600 Wh/L 700 Wh/L 1200 Wh/L electric cars that go twice as far – for the same battery weight. Dangerous Safe Safe Safest MIT News Office says SolidEnergy Systems, founded in 2012 by MIT alumnus Dr Qichao Hu, has developed an “anode-free” lithium metal In October 2015, SolidEnergy demonstrated the first-ever working battery with several material advances that make it twice as energy- prototype of a rechargeable lithium metal smartphone battery with dense, yet just as safe and long-lasting as the lithium ion batteries used in double energy density, which earned it more than US$12 million from smartphones, electric cars, wearables, drones and other devices. investors. At half the size of the lithium ion battery used in an iPhone “With two times the energy density, we can make a battery half 6, it offers 2.0 amp hours, compared with the lithium ion battery’s 1.8 the size, but that still lasts the same amount of time, as a lithium amp hours. ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium ion SolidEnergy plans to bring the batteries to smartphones and battery, but now it will last twice as long,” says Dr Hu, who co-invented wearables in early 2017, and to electric cars in 2018. But the first the battery at MIT and is now CEO of SolidEnergy. application will be drones, coming this November. The battery essentially swaps out a common battery anode Putting these new batteries in electric vehicles as well could material, graphite, for very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which represent “a huge societal impact,” Dr Hu says. can hold more ions – and, therefore, provide more energy capacity. “Industry standard is that electric vehicles need to go at least 200 Chemical modifications to the electrolyte also make the typically miles (322 kilometres) on a single charge. We can make the battery short-lived and volatile lithium metal batteries rechargeable and safer half the size and half the weight, and it will travel the same distance, or to use. Moreover, the batteries are made using existing lithium ion we can make it the same size and same weight, and now it will go 400 manufacturing equipment, which makes them scalable, says MIT. miles on a single charge.”
GRAPHENE CABLE TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT POWER COSTS niversity of NSW technology that promises to cut power costs and that promotes the co-location of businesses, universities and research Ugreenhouse gas emissions by improving electricity transmission organisations within dedicated science and technology parks to drive will be developed in Australia following the official opening of the new innovation, the Torch precinct at UNSW is the first outside China. UNSW and Hangzhou Cable Joint Laboratory. “The impact on the electricity sector, in terms of financial savings The $10 million laboratory will develop a prototype of the and environmental gains, would be profound,” the Director General of new graphene-based cable technology that overcomes persistent China’s Torch program, Mr Zhihong Zhang, said of the potential of the electricity leakage that plagues conventional power cable and grids, new cables. to deliver significant savings in electricity and resulting reductions in The Hangzhou Cable Co is one of China’s leading state-owned costs and emissions. manufacturers. The commercialisation and application of the UNSW The new technology was invented technology could save some 275 terawatt by a UNSW research team led by hours of power a year across China alone materials scientist Professor Sean Li. – more than Australia’s entire annual The project is the first to be unveiled energy consumption. as part of the new Torch Innovation A 10-metre-long prototype cable Precinct at UNSW, which brings together will be developed in Australia before a world-class UNSW-led research teams planned scale-up to industrial trials and and Chinese businesses and industries application in China. with the capital, capacity and market Since 1988, China has developed access needed to translate Australian 150 Torch precincts nationwide that now research into high-impact new products, generate some seven per cent of GDP, 10 processes and services. Modelled on per cent of industrial output and 16 per China’s highly successful Torch program Opening the UNSW and Hangzhou Cable Joint Laboratory. cent of export value.
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ANU researcher Felix Venn on the solar thermal dish.
“When our computer model told us the efficiency that our design was going to achieve, we thought it was alarmingly high,” said Dr John Pye, from the ANU Research School of Engineering. “But when we built it and tested it, sure enough, the performance was amazing.” Concentrating solar thermal systems use reflectors to concentrate sunlight and generate steam, which can drive conventional power station turbines. It can be combined with efficient heat storage systems and can supply power on demand
PHOTO: STUART HAY, ANU HAY, STUART PHOTO: at a significantly lower cost than solar energy from photovoltaic panels that has been stored in batteries. The global concentrating solar thermal capacity has grown by a ANU claims solar factor of 10 in the past decade, with some of the largest installations in Spain, the US and South Africa. thermal world record At 500 square metres, the ANU solar concentrator is the largest of its kind in the world. It focuses the power of 2100 suns onto the Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have claimed receiver, through which water is pumped and heated to 5000C. a world record for efficiency for a solar thermal dish generating The new receiver design is a cavity that resembles a top hat steam that could be used for power stations. with narrow opening and a wide brim. Water pipes spiral around the underside of the brim and up into the hat. The team says it designed and built a new receiver for the solar The sunlight is focused onto the pipes, heating the water as it concentrator dish at ANU, halving losses and achieving a 97 per cent enters at the brim and spirals up into the cavity. The water reaches conversion of sunlight into steam – a breakthrough that could lead to peak temperature in the deepest reaches of the cavity, which the generation of cheaper baseload electricity from renewable energy minimises heat loss. Heat which does leak out of the cavity can be and help lower carbon emissions which cause global warming. absorbed by the cooler water around the hat’s brim.
CSIRO LAUNCHES HYBRID ENERGY RESEARCH HUB SIRO has launched its Centre for Hybrid Energy Systems, a Combining two or more forms of energy generation, storage or end-use Ccollaborative facility in Melbourne to research cutting-edge technologies, hybrid systems deliver overall cost and efficiency benefits, compared with single-source energy systems. Configurations include renewable or non- renewable and hybrid energy technologies. renewable energy sources, electrical and chemical energy storage and fuel cells, The centre will be a hub for researchers and industry to identify, often connected via a smart grid. improve and then tailor energy technologies to meet specific requirements. It will be used to share the benefits of emerging hybrid energy systems with industry and government to maximise the value of local energy sources. CSIRO Fellow Dr Sukhvinder Badwal FTSE said there was a rapidly growing global demand for hybrid energy systems based on increased availability of renewable and modular power generation and storage technologies such as batteries, fuel cells and household solar. “These technologies are becoming cost competitive, but the key to greater use is to combine them in connected hybrid systems,” Dr Badwal said. “By doing this, we can offer substantial improvements in performance, reliability of power, flexibility and cost.” The Centre for Hybrid Energy Systems will also provide education, testing and certification services for emerging storage batteries, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
CSIRO’s new Centre for Hybrid Energy Systems.
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Enterprise Research Laboratory (The Magic Lab) at UTS, said: “This Collaboration in robotics project is a watershed moment for robotics research in Australia and globally. We’re excited to see companies like Stockland and CBA The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Stockland, the University of investing in social robotics and opening doors to universities, research Technology Sydney (UTS) and the Australian Technology Network institutes and the next generation of robotics students. of Universities (ATN) are pioneering technology innovation and “While there are research challenges and risks associated with research into artificial intelligence through a leading corporate– the broader field of robotics, there are also extraordinary benefits for academic partnership in social robotics. companies seeking to establish and maintain a leadership position in the disruptive field of social robotics.” They say this partnership will contribute to the growing field of Hi everyone, I’m global research in social robotics Stereo LED Ears Camera a signal for humans by identifying opportunities and Eyes through colour on how to track and recognise Chip is “feeling” limitations in human–robot interaction faces and actions like shaking hands and exploring commercial applications of social robotics across a number of 12.1” Touch Screen 2 Microphones, industries. to help Chip interact 2 Speakers to hear and be heard CBA’s Sydney Innovation Lab will be used as a testing environment for students and academics of Australia’s leading technology universities to 8 Hours 16 Ultrasound BatteryLife Sensors conduct research and development the longest life for navigating in a humanoid autonomously around using Chip, a humanoid robot owned robot this size obstacles by the bank and the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere. 2 Lasers 170cm Tall, 100kg to map the shortest as a tall person and can Professor Mary-Anne Williams distance to a carry almost 30kg destination FTSE, Director of the Innovation and
How Chip Candroid works.
PHOTO: ANGEL LOPEZ-SANCHEZ/AAO Way. As more galaxies were discovered, astronomers needed a way to consistently group different types of galaxies together. In 1926, American astronomer Edwin Hubble classified galaxies as spiral, elliptical, lenticular or irregular. This ‘Hubble sequence’ remains the most common way of classifying galaxies, despite its subjectivity hampering identification of the evolutionary pathways followed by different types of galaxies. Dr Luca Cortese, from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) – headed by Professor Peter Quinn FTSE – says the world’s premier astronomical facilities are now producing surveys consisting of hundreds of thousands of galaxies rather than the dozens that Hubble and his contemporaries were working with. “We really need a way to classify galaxies consistently using instruments The Anglo–Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in NSW. that measure physical properties rather than a time consuming and subjective technique involving human interpretation,” he said. SCOPES SHED LIGHT ON DIFFERENT In a study led by Dr Cortese, a team of astronomers used a GALAXY TYPES technique known as Integral Field Spectroscopy to quantify how gas ustralian scientists have taken a critical step towards and stars move within galaxies and reinterpret the Hubble sequence Aunderstanding why different types of galaxies exist throughout as a physically based two-dimensional classification system. the universe and enabling them to be classified by their physical The study involved 488 galaxies observed by the 3.9-metre properties rather than human interpretation of their appearance. Anglo–Australian Telescope in NSW and an instrument attached Astronomers note that, for the past 100 years, telescopes have to the telescope called the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field been capable of observing galaxies beyond our own galaxy, the Milky spectrograph or ‘SAMI’.
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TOOLKIT CAN DETECT PLANT VIRUSES Plant Biosecurity CRC team is rolling out a plant diagnostic toolkit Athat can accurately detect plant viruses and viroids in a single test. “By tapping into the plant’s natural defences we are able to detect nearly every known plant virus with much greater accuracy – giving us a test with a very high level of confidence,” said Dr Roberto Barrero, project leader from Murdoch University. The test is based on next-generation small RNA sequencing technologies and is part of a toolkit that provides comprehensive guidance on the new techniques including sample collection, preparation, operating procedures, the informatics analytical
PHOTO: DAFWA PHOTO: environment and screening tools. Dr Nichols (left), Dr Kaur and Professor Erskine. The toolkit will be mainly used by post-entry quarantine (PEQ) facilities operated by government quarantine agencies. The Australian Decoding clover DNA for Government has already adopted the technology in the toolkit as the new PEQ standard for screening viral pathogens in clonal grasses. better productivity “The new test will significantly reduce the time imported plant material spends in Australia’s quarantine system, while improving Western Australian and Japanese scientists have together cracked accuracy of detection,” said Mark Whattam, plant pathologist at the the genome sequence of subterranean (sub) clover, which they new national PEQ Facility at Mickleham, Victoria. expect will revolutionise the development of new and improved “The toolkit has many benefits for our operations, including forage legumes, which underpin WA’s $1.8 billion livestock industry. improved sensitivity, reduced screening costs and the reduction of manual screening times, which can currently take more than two years. The project, led by The University of Western Australia in “It means that imported material such as elite cultivars and collaboration with the WA Department of Agriculture and Food, breeding lines will be available to Australian plant breeders and Murdoch University and the Kazusa DNA Research Institute, was nurseries as much as 12 months sooner.” funded through the Science and Innovation Award by Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Meat and Livestock UK STILL BIGGEST FARM INVESTOR Australia and the Australian Research Council. September report from the Agricultural Land Register shows Clovers are widely grown around the world as forage legumes for Aforeign investors held 13.6 per cent of all Australian agricultural livestock and they add nitrogen to the soil, which assists crop production. land at 30 June 2016. The UK is Australia’s principal source of Subclover is the most important annual pasture legume in Australia, investment in agriculture and the preferred means of agricultural sown across an estimated 29 million hectares of agricultural land. investment is through leasehold. UWA molecular biologist Dr Parwinder Kaur said the challenge UK investors hold more than 52 per cent of the land held by was not only to determine the sequence of subclover DNA but to international investors. The countries with the next largest shares were: understand the genes from a functional point of view. the US, Netherlands, Singapore and China, which holds less than half a “The changes provide a breakthrough for breeding of future per cent (0.38 per cent) of Australia’s agricultural land. subclovers, which will increase agriculture production by increasing the health of the soil,” she said. POMEGRANATE PLUS IN ALZHEIMER’S “This work will allow the development of DNA markers that are diet rich in pomegranates had significant positive impacts for the closely associated with genes controlling traits of interest, which Abrain health of mice with Alzheimer’s disease, an international can be used in breeding programs to markedly improve selection research team led by UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing has found. efficiency, particularly for traits difficult to measure in the field or UNSW says the study demonstrated that dietary supplementation glasshouse,” said Department senior pasture breeder and UWA of four per cent pomegranate extract to a standard diet over a Adjunct Associate Professor Phil Nichols. 15-month period resulted in a range of neuroprotective effects in mice. “Such traits include resistance to redlegged earth mites and Bred to provide a model of Alzheimer’s disease, the mice important diseases, hardseededness, tolerance to false breaks, early demonstrate progressive age-related brain decline linked to the build- season growth under cool temperatures, phosphorus use efficiency, up of amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein in the brain. Aβ is the main component phtyoestrogen content, methanogenic potential in the rumen, of the brain plaques found in Alzheimer’s patients and is widely targeted flowering time and other traits related to biomass production.” in research seeking to prevent, slow and treat the disease. UWA Centre for Plant Genetics and Breeding Director Professor Pomegranates contain high concentrations of polyphenols William Erskine said this understanding of the subclover genome compared to other fruits and vegetables. Naturally occurring in food, would also aid breeding programs of other important pasture legumes polyphenols are compounds with antioxidant properties, which with more complex genomes, such as white and red clovers, annual current evidence suggests play an important role in preventing medics and lucerne. neurodegenerative disease.
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Tobar leads research GRANT PROGRAM DRIVES ADVANCED TRAINING TOOLS into superconductivity esearcher Dr James Zhang from Deakin University’s Institute for RIntelligent Systems Research and Innovation is working with Researchers at the University of Western Australia have shown that software company YTEK to develop advanced training tools for 3D-printing can be used to create a resonant microwave cavity via surgeons, emergency workers, soldiers and pilots under a new early an aluminium-silicon alloy that shows superconductivity when career researcher grant program. cooled below the critical temperature of aluminium. The grant program, aimed at small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) is managed by CSIRO and funded through the Science and Professor Michael Tobar AM FAA FTSE, an Australian Research Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF) STEM+ Business Fellowship program. Council Laureate Fellow and 2014 Clunies Ross Award winner from YTEK is a Melbourne-based SME developing solutions for simulation UWA’s School of Physics, and training in the emergency response, defence and aerospace said superconducting sectors and Dr Zhang is working closely with the company to research cavities were highly useful machine-learning algorithms that will intelligently monitor and evaluate in many areas of physics, a trainee’s conduct in mission-critical simulations. from quantum physics to Using sensors on training tools, such as manikins, the software will particle accelerators. help trainers to assess students in practical training and accreditation, Two groups at UWA, and see individual and group performance. one led by Professor Tim This was particularly important for medical students in clinical Sercombe, an expert in lessons to ensure they had the best education possible, while making materials and 3D printing, the best use of trainer time and education resources, YTEK CEO and the other led by Richard Yanieri said. Professor Tobar, an expert “This is a great opportunity for me to be directly embedded in the in engineered quantum 3D printed from aluminium-silicon alloy. business and to use my expertise to help YTEK create a new product,” systems and novel cavity Dr Zhang said. “I’ve gone from being a researcher to learning about the designs, combined their expertise to explore the superconducting business environment and it’s a really exciting new phase in my career. properties of 3D-printed parts. This new technology is the future for training delivery so I’m pleased Professor Tobar said conductivity measured how easily an to be a part of it.” electrical current flowed through a material, while superconductivity The project has been facilitated by CSIRO’s SME Connect team was this measure taken to its extreme. which links SMEs with researchers to increase productivity and help 3D printing is revolutionising many areas of manufacturing and develop new products and capabilities. science and particularly 3D printing of metals is being used in fields as Managed by SME Connect the SIEF STEM+ Business Fellowship diverse as customised medical implants, jet engine bearings and rapid program aims to place more than 35 researchers in businesses over prototyping for the automotive industry. the next five years to help create a cohort of industry-savvy early- Most 3D metal printing techniques rely on computer-controlled career researchers. melting or sintering (a high temperature PHOTO: DEAKIN UNIVERSITY process for fusing powder together) of a metal alloy powder by a laser or electron beam. Professor Tobar said the mechanical properties of parts produced by this method had been well studied, but not enough attention had focused on their electrical properties. “The physics of superconductivity is well understood, and it has been known for decades that aluminium exhibits superconductivity,” Professor Tobar said. “But the 3D printing process relies on aluminium that’s far from pure and it undergoes several processes, such as atomisation, laser melting, furnace annealing etc. So we wanted to explore whether a range of known superconducting metals could successfully be 3D printed and retain their (From left) Jason Barkla (CSIRO, SME Connect), Richard Yanieri, Saeid Nahavandi (Director of IISRI), Samer Hanoun desirable electrical property.” (Supervising Researcher, IISRI), Kellie Britt (Simulation Instructor, Deakin School of Medicine) and James Zhang.
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The Centre will bring together eight Australian universities and $34 million for quantum more than 35 international partners and end users in the fields of quantum computing and quantum communication. computing research The Australian Government announced 2017 funding of $283.5 million for nine leading research centres focused on boosting productivity and economic growth. The ARC Centres of Excellence program is one of the most prestigious government funding schemes, providing resources for up to seven years and bringing together world-class, internationally competitive teams to investigate and find solutions to problems of national priority. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said nine programs were picked from nearly 100 detailed applications after an extensive assessment process by independent experts whose selection criteria focused on how the research aligned with Australia’s national interest and ensured collaboration across different institutions and with businesses. “These Centres offer opportunities to make big leaps in the different research fields because they build on previous work, collaborate with partners at home and abroad and are supported by businesses that can see potential commercial value in the outcomes.” The UNSW Quantum Computing team: (from left) Professors Sven Rogge, Other ARC Centre of Excellence programs funded were: Andrea Morello, Michelle Simmons and Andrew Dzurak. ¢ Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (Wollongong), $33.75 million; The University of NSW-headquartered ARC Centre of Excellence ¢ Future Low Energy Electronics Technologies (Monash), $33.4 million; for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, ¢ Engineered Quantum Systems (University of Queensland), led by Professor Michelle Simmons FAA FTSE, has been awarded $31.9 million; $33.7 million in the latest ARC Centre of Excellence grants. ¢ Exciton Science (Melbourne), 31.85 million; ¢ Gravitational Wave Discovery (Swinburne), $31.3 million; This will enable it to continue its development of the world’s ¢ All Sky Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (Australian National first quantum computer in silicon, expected to provide a strategic University), $30.3 million; advantage in a world where information and information security are ¢ Climate Extremes (UNSW), $30.05 million; and of paramount importance. ¢ Population Ageing Research (UNSW), $27.25 million.
NEW CENTRIFUGE MAKES IT A THREESOME he University of Western Australia is now home to the only Tgeotechnical modelling facility in the world that operates three centrifuges, after a third 26-tonne, fixed-beam centrifuge was lowered by crane into the new Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre building after arriving from France. The new facility is part of the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility (NGCF) and brings together six Australian universities. The NGCF is run by the Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems Installing the new (COFS) – headed by Professor Mark Cassidy FTSE – and aims to service centrifuge. the national and international geotechnical engineering community by developing safe and economical geotechnical structures, notably for the offshore oil and gas and renewable industry. The centrifuge functions by spinning reduced-scale foundation models at incredible speeds in order to simulate the stresses experienced by the soil at full-scale conditions. from centrifuge modelling are then applied to full-scale structures The new centrifuge has a 10-metre diameter and is capable of and used to help design pipelines, anchors and other offshore spinning 2400 kilograms of soil at a G-level of 100, which is a force 10 infrastructure, at a fraction of the cost and hazard when compared to times greater than an astronaut experiences during training. Results full-scale testing.
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Valuable metals reactions to produce copper and tin-based alloys from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs), while simultaneously destroying toxins. A from e-waste programmed drone is able to identify PCBs from within crushed e-waste, and a simple robot is used to extract them, overcoming the Professor Veena Sahajwalla FTSE has pioneered an Australian risks of contamination, before the PCBs are fed into the furnace. solution to the global e-waste crisis, developing microfactories to “A tonne of mobile phones (about 6000 handsets), for example, turn unwanted electronics into valuable metal alloys. contains about 130 kilograms of copper, 3.5kg of silver, 340 grams of gold and 140g of palladium, worth tens of thousands of dollars. The University of NSW pilot micro-factory safely transforms toxic “We already understand the value of sourcing green energy electronic waste (e-waste) into high-value metal alloys – offering a from the sun, similarly we can source valuable green materials from unique low-cost solution to one of the world’s fastest-growing waste our waste. ‘Mining’ our waste stockpiles makes sense for both the burdens. economy and the PHOTO: MORRIS PETER UNSW says Professor Sahajwalla’s breakthrough process recovers environment,” she the considerable wealth of resources embedded in e-waste while said. overcoming the challenges of toxicity and the often prohibitively high Until now, safe costs of conventional industrial-scale recycling – enabling safe, cost- e-waste processing effective ‘mining’ of e-waste stockpiles locally, anywhere in the world. has been restricted The US$1 trillion global electronics industry generated about 42 to high-cost million tonnes of obsolete equipment in 2014, a potential loss of some industrial-scale US$52 billion worth of embedded resources, according to a recent facilities with very United Nations Environment Program report. large furnaces, Although e-waste contains a range of valuable metals, it is Veena Sahajwalla at UNSW. leaving many especially challenging to recycle due to the presence of toxins and communities across the complex mix of materials. Currently, large volumes of e-waste Australia, and around the world, without a viable solution. CleanUp are exported from industrial economies like Australia to developing Australia estimates almost 90 per cent of the four million televisions nations, where hand processing to recover metals exposes poor and three million computers Australians buy each year will end up in communities to dangerous contaminants. landfill. “The world urgently needs a safe, low-cost recycling solution The new micro-factories are suitable for mobile use: they can for e-waste. Our approach is to enable every local community to be set up in containers and transported to waste sites, avoiding transform their e-waste into valuable metal alloys, instead of leaving the huge costs and emissions of trucking or shipping e-waste over old devices in drawers or sheds, or sending them to landfill,” Professor long distances. Likewise, they promise a safe new way for poor Sahajwalla said. communities in developing nations to generate an income from the Professor Sahajwalla uses precisely controlled, high-temperature production of metal alloys.
OPAL CLOCKS UP 10 YEARS our understanding of the world around us,” how batteries obtain and lose their charge NSTO’s Open Pool Australian Lightwater said CEO Dr Adi Paterson FTSE – from how and even how welding joins hold up under A(OPAL) has achieved a decade of we digest rice, to the possibilities for new extreme environments. operation since the nuclear research reactor stronger forms of antibiotics, understanding “Through irradiating samples, OPAL also went critical for the first time, helps us understand the elemental and began producing neutrons composition of materials, and is one through a self-sustaining fission of the world’s major producers of reaction. irradiated silicon, an essential part of The OPAL reactor is a major green energy sources. uniquely Australian design that “The most immediate benefit is currently the best of its kind in to the average Australian has the world and is the world’s first been through OPAL’s role in research reactor to use only low delivering the base material for enriched uranium fuel and target over 10,000 patient doses of plates. nuclear medicine that are sent “On a daily basis, OPAL feeds across Australia each week. millions of neutrons through “Since OPAL achieved its first to a suite of neutron-scattering sustained nuclear chain reaction, instruments that can help deepen Adi Paterson cuts the 10-year OPAL cake. it has produced millions of doses
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Elias Aboutanios and the UNSW team. of the thermosphere; INSPIRE-2, a joint project between the University of Sydney, UNSW and the Australian National University, which will measure the electron temperature and density of plasma in the region; and SUSat, a joint project between by the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. All three satellites, along with other QB50 cubesats, will be launched to the International Space Station in December by an Orbital ATK Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, inside a Cygnus cargo freighter. The cubesats will be deployed from the ISS about a month after arrival, and drift down from the ISS’s orbit of 380km toward the target region. “This is the most extensive exploration of the lower thermosphere ever, collecting measurements in the kind of detail never before tried,” said Dr Elias Aboutanios, project leader of UNSW-Ec0 and a senior lecturer at UNSW. “The satellites will operate for three to nine months – and may last Australia in swarm of up to a year – orbiting this little-studied region of space, before their orbits decay and they re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.” exploration satellites The QB50 cubesats were built by 48 universities and research institutes from 28 nations, including Canada, China, France, Italy, Three Australian research satellites will be launched later this Korea, the UK and the US. year to the International Space Station and deployed into orbit Each cubesat also carries other instruments with its own to explore the little-understood region above Earth known as the engineering and scientific goals. UNSW-Ec0, for example, has three thermosphere. other experiments: a robust computer chip designed to avoid crashing in the harsh radiation of space, as some satellites and space probes The trio is part of an international mission known as QB50, which are forced to do when hit by cosmic rays; a space-borne GPS to allow will see a swarm of 50 small satellites – known as cubesats and satellites to cluster together in swarms; and test a super-reliable weighing an average of two kilogramss each – carry out the most computer microkernel in the harsh radiation of space. extensive measurements ever undertaken of the region between 200 In addition, UNSW-Ec0’s chassis is made entirely from 3D-printed and 380 kilometres above Earth. thermoplastic, itself an experiment to test the reliability of using This is a region vital for communications, weather formation and 3D-printing to manufacture satellites, making them cheaper. helps shield Earth from cosmic rays and solar radiation. It is the first time an Australian-made satellite has gone into The trio are the UNSW Australian Centre for Space Engineering space since FedSat, a 58kg experimental microsatellite satellite, was Research (ACSER) UNSW-Ec0, which will study the atomic composition launched from Japan in 2002.
of nuclear medicine used in the diagnosis and SIX IN WORLD TOP 100 Canberra and Western Sydney – followed treatment of various cancers, and heart, lung ix Australian universities were ranked by Central Queensland (601–650), Victoria and skeletal conditions.” Samong the world’s top 100 in the 2016-17 (651–700) and Australian Catholic University, Dr Paterson said ANSTO had 60 years’ QS World University Rankings. Charles Sturt, Elizabeth Cowan, New England expertise in manufacturing and exporting ANU led the pack at 22, followed by and Southern Queensland (all 700+). nuclear medicine, 10 with OPAL, and from Melbourne (42), Sydney (46) UNSW (49), In the Times Higher Education World next year these capabilities would be Queensland (51) and Monash (65). University Rankings for 2016-17, Melbourne dramatically enhanced with the ANSTO University of WA was out of the top topped the Australian list at ranking 33, followed Nuclear Medicine plant. 100 at 102, followed by Adelaide (125) and by ANU (47) Queensland (60), Sydney (60), “Global demand for potentially lifesaving University of Technology Sydney (193). Monash (74) and NSW (78) all in the Top 100. molybdenum 99 (Mo-99) is increasing, while The next group was Wollongong (218), UWA (125) and Adelaide (142) were in the reactors capable of supplying it are Newcastle (245), Macquarie (247), RMIT (252), the next bracket, followed by Newcastle and shutting down, and from next year ANSTO QUT (276) and South Australia (208). QUT (201–250) and a raft of universities in the will step up to help fill that gap. The next bracket was Curtin (306), 251–300 bracket – Charles Darwin, Deakin, “The $168.8 million project is in the final Griffith (336), James Cook (340), Deakin (355), Griffith, James Cook, Macquarie, SA, UTS and phases of construction, and will ramp up to Tasmania (370) and La Trobe (386), followed Wollongong. a full scale production of 10 million doses a by Swinburne (441) and Bond (461). Next came Flinders, La Trobe, Swinburne year – 25 per cent of world supply – by the The 501–550 rankings included Murdoch, and Victoria (351–400) followed by Canberra end of 2017.” 551–600 covered Charles Darwin, Flinders, and CQU (401–500).
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BY IAN RAE [email protected]
Admiralty told Ronalds semaphore was fine BOOK REVIEW
Sir Francis Ronalds: Father of the Electric Telegraph by Beverley F. Ronalds (Imperial College Press, 2016, xv + 604 pp.).
Dr Ronalds’ book is a mine of business for a few years, but he had no need measuring apparatus included a spirit lamp to information about her great- earn a living and was able to indulge his gift prevent condensation on a glass tube and a D great-great-uncle, who saw for inventions and scientific studies, all 180 of conducting element made of ‘gilt bamboo’. that electricity could be used them, recorded by the author in a table that Not as well-known as the Royal for communication and is occupies nine pages. Observatory at Greenwich was another one, accordingly credited with the invention of the These included dry piles for generation at Kew, established in 1768 by King George III. electric telegraph. of electricity (longer-lasting versions of By 1841 it was disused and empty but His device was powered by static Volta’s wet piles), a battery-operated clock, the Royal Society rescued it and the British electricity and perhaps for this reason curve-drawing instruments, hinged tripods, Association for the Advancement of Science Ronalds’ name is not as well-known as those adaptations for the lathe (he wrote a book took it over. As Honorary Director from 1842 of Morse and Wheatstone, who based their on turning) and recording meteorological to 1855, Ronalds invented a suite of new telegraphs on electric current. instruments – to name but a few. instruments and established the observatory In addition, when Ronalds offered his A lot of effort went into gold-leaf and pith- as a site of meteorological study. telegraph to the British Admiralty in 1816 ball electroscopes that were the detectors He was knighted in 1870 after the it was rejected as “wholly unnecessary”. in his telegraph, in contrast to the oscillating laying of the trans-Atlantic cable had Semaphore was fine, thanks very much. magnetised needle used in the direct brought knighthoods to others and belated Ronalds (1788–1873) was wealthy as current telegraphs. It was the era of sealing recognition of Ronalds’ pioneering invention. a consequence of belonging to a family of wax and string, so I wasn’t totally surprised Recognition by the scientific community had London cheesemongers. He did serve in the to find that his atmospheric electricity come earlier when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1844. In later life Ronalds spent a lot of time on the Continent, visiting sites such as the megaliths at Carnac in western France, but A NEW VIEW OF YOU his main interest was in building his library of iomedical Breakthroughs: A New View of You’ is the title of a five-month exhibition at works on electricity. ‘BMelbourne Museum, which runs until 20 January. On his death the 2000 books were Biomedical Breakthroughs is a science exhibition with a difference. It explores the work bequeathed to the Society of Telegraph of two leading Melbourne-based research organisations, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Engineers. Its successor society, the Institution of Medical Research and CSL. of Electrical Engineers (now the Institution Over 100 years, these two organisations have been breaking new ground across of Engineering and Technology) continued research areas that have changed the world. From pioneering research into antivenoms to build the Ronalds Library so that it now in the 1920s and 1930s to contemporary research breakthroughs that include a potential occupies five linear kilometres of physical vaccine for coeliac disease and a new cancer treatment, the outcomes of these research collections and digital resources. initiatives are celebrated in this all-new exhibition. The existence of this massive corpus of Using large-format projections as well as an interactive cancer molecule spinner – Ronalds’ papers, plus a collection of letters in the same technology that researchers use to find weaknesses in a cancerous cell – and a Canada, has enabled the author (ATSE Fellow ‘space invaders’ game that lets audiences target viruses in the immune system, Biomedical Dr Beverley Ronalds) to dip into them for Breakthroughs is described as a “stunning new look” at a century of research achievement. quotations but in some sections of the book this is overdone (approximately 500 of them!)
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MY ANCESTOR WAS A PROLIFIC INVENTOR n first moving to London in 1980 for postgraduate studies at OImperial College and to gain further engineering experience, I visited the Ronalds Library and Archive at what was then the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Sir Francis Ronalds’ books and papers had been bequeathed to the embryonic institution on his death in 1873. Peeking into his musty journals and sketches I felt I had found a treasure trove and I knew then that I would return to London on my retirement and explore them in detail. I had no idea how much I would learn about my great-great-great-uncle and namesake and his technological and social environment. My father, another engineer, had told me the story as a child about our ancestor inventing the electric telegraph in 1816 and it being rejected by government as “wholly unnecessary” because they had the semaphore. The bicentenary of that wonderful letter in today’s telecommunications era set my research timeline. At a time when electricity was just a scientific curiosity, Sir Francis had written “Let us have electrical conversazione offices, communicating with each other all over the kingdom… give me materiel enough, and I will electrify the world”. Once I started digging, it became apparent that Ronalds was a prolific inventor, and his notes led me through myriad electrical, Sir Francis Ronalds and a friend surveying the ancient standing mechanical and civil engineering devices to the global atmospheric stones at Carnac in Brittany. Drawn and lithographed using his electricity circuit, archaeology, art, photography, and even his “grand perspective tracing instrument patented in 1825. tour”. There were also familiar strains of scientific rivalry and funding difficulties, particularly in his case with the Astronomer Royal, George and it makes for difficult reading. Airy. The occasional quotation to illustrate a point Most descendants of the Ronalds family live in Australia, courtesy made by the author is fine, but the quotations of Sir Francis’ brother Alfred who migrated to Victoria in 1848. He also should not be allowed to carry the story. That’s made a mark on history, primarily through his classic book The Fly- something the biographer should do. fisher’s Entomology. There is also some unevenness in the The family were great adventurers, with other siblings and cousins coverage. For example, there is no explanation surrendering their very comfortable English lifestyle to settle in the US of why dry piles work at all, while it seemed Mid-West, Canada and New Zealand. unnecessary for us to be told that Euclid was an Sir Francis himself made it as far as the Near East in his travels. He lived “ancient Greek mathematician” and Homer an long enough to see the electric telegraph reach all these places – Australia “ancient Greek poet”. was linked to London in 1872. As he This biography of a man who had “more mused: “Little did I, in 1817, dream ideas than hours” is extensively documented and that my electro-telegraphic wires illustrated but many of the figures, interesting … would make short work of all as they are because they are reproduced from terrestrial distances and difficulties Francis Ronalds’ own drawings, lack contrast. I in so short a period”. found it hard to make out the details. I am very fortunate in having Our ATSE colleague has given us, as I a career in academia and industry introduced it, a mine of information but the as a foundation for my project, mineralogy is complex and the miner/reader as well as being able to visit needs to work hard to appreciate its riches. ¤ archives around the world to learn more about my ancestor and his Professor Ian Rae FTSE, an Honorary Professional Fellow at achievements. the University of Melbourne, is a former technical Director Today’s interconnected world of ATSE. He was President of the Royal Australian Chemical made my plan feasible and I have Institute (2006–08) and served for a decade as a technical enjoyed every minute of it adviser to the UN Environment Programme. He is co-editor of the Australian Academy of Science journal Historical Beverley Ronalds – DR BEVERLEY RONALDS FTSE Records of Australian Science.
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as well as vital signs devices to monitor their ECG, heart rate, spirometry, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, body weight and body temperature, with glucometry an optional add-on. Patients on the trial reported improvements in anxiety, depression and quality of life, with many finding that home monitoring gave them a better understanding of their chronic conditions. Patients also had a reduced mortality rate of more than 40 per cent. Telehealth is designed to enable health workers to assess changes in their patients’ conditions remotely and provide appropriate care interventions earlier to help them stay out of hospital. CSIRO lead researcher Dr Rajiv Jayasena said the 12-month trial enabled chronic disease patients to self-manage their conditions at Telehealth nurse showing a patient how to use the home monitoring system. home through the provision of telehealth services. “Aged patients with multiple chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or chronic lung disease account for more than 70 per Big savings in health cent of our health system expenditure,” Dr Jayasena said. “In addition to a 24 per cent savings of Medical Benefits Scheme home monitoring expenditure over one year, the trial also showed a substantial 36 per cent decrease in hospital admission and most importantly a 42 per Australia’s first large-scale trial of telehealth, undertaken by CSIRO cent reduction in length of stay if admitted to hospital during the and partners, has shown that it could save the nation’s healthcare 12-month trial. system up to $3 billion a year. “This is a huge saving when you consider the cost of a hospital bed per day is estimated to be about $2051 in Australia." The research trialled telehealth systems with 287 patients over a More than 500,000 Australians aged over 65 would be good 12-month period and showed savings of 24 per cent over the year to candidates for at-home telemonitoring, Dr Jayasena said. the healthcare system made through falls in the number and cost of “Our research showed the return on investment of a telemonitoring GP visits, specialist visits and procedures carried out. initiative on a national scale would be in the order of five to one by Test patients were provided with a telehealth device that included reducing demand on hospital inpatient and outpatient services, reduced participant/clinician video conferencing capabilities, messaging visits to GPs, reduced visits from community nurses and an overall features and the delivery of clinical and study specific questionnaires, reduced demand on increasingly scarce clinical resources,” he said.
3D PREDICTS PLASTIC Facing up to cosmetic SURGERY RESULTS changes. esearchers at The University of Western Australia Rhave produced a new 3D imaging system that will provide patients considering facial cosmetic procedures actual effects of a with an accurate prediction of the results, bettering the cosmetic procedure. 2D photographs that are currently being used by most “The system health practitioners performing cosmetic work. indicates where Professor Mohammed Bennamoun, from UWA’s the changes have School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, occurred and by how said there was a rising demand for subtle and ‘natural’ much, in association enhancement of personal appearance through with a probability- cosmetic medical procedures, which was due to many based predictive factors including the increasing longevity of the population, more modelling system to help the patient understand the potential people returning to the workforce and more frequent relationship changes before treatment.” turnovers. The research is a national collaboration led by 3D computer vision “Proving these subtle outcomes with confidence can be expert Professor Bennamoun and includes UWA 3D computer vision challenging and currently relies on the use of subjective evaluation of researcher Dr Syed Afaq Ali Shah and Dr Michael Molton, a UWA multi-variable 2D photos with predictions of results often deceiving graduate and cosmetic medical practitioner, based in Adelaide. and unreliable for patients,” Dr Bennamoun said. Dr Molton and his team in Adelaide are running a trial of the first “What we’re working on is a 3D system that compares two working prototype which demonstrates changes in pre and post- overlaid images to produce a single and precise evaluation of the treatment 3D facial scans.
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PHOTO: JOHN GOLLINGS Mouthguard to help improve sleep
Brisbane-based Oventus Medical Ltd is taking its new 3D-printed titanium mouthguard to the market to help sleep apnoea sufferers by bypassing airway obstructions.
Oventus has raised $12 million in a stock exchange listing that will be injected into the commercialisation The 3D-printed titanium sleep apnoea device. and distribution of its O2Vent™ sleep apnoea devices. Produced in partnership with CSIRO, which 3D-printed the device from The Hilmer Building. titanium at its Lab 22 Innovation UNSW OPENS HILMER BUILDING Centre in Victoria, he University of NSW has honoured former Vice- the O2Vent™ TChancellor Emeritus Professor Fred Hilmer AO by has successfully naming its new materials science and engineering completed clinical research and innovation centre after him. trials and received FDA clearance, opening up the US market. President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Jacobs The company first approached CSIRO in 2014 when dentist Chris Hart said the Hilmer Building would provide staff and had the idea for a mouthguard with airways that would assist airflow bypass students with exceptional research laboratories and a sleep apnoea sufferer’s airway obstructions including from the tongue, soft flexible collaborative learning spaces, reinforcing UNSW’s palate and nose. reputation as a world-leader in the field. The O2Vent™ is a customisable mouthpiece, which is printed to the precise “This amazing building has been designed for dimensions of a patient’s mouth. It ensures optimal airflow during sleep and Australia’s highest ranked materials science school, which reduces the effects of snoring and sleep apnoea. sits in the world’s top 50,” Professor Jacobs said. Earlier The US Sleep Foundation estimates that 37 million Americans regularly this month, the building’s research laboratories were suffer from snoring and the global sleep disorder market is estimated to be recognised with the Educational Architecture Award from worth $50 billion annually. An estimated one million Australians suffer from the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW). sleep apnoea. The Hilmer Building is home to an array of world-class Lab 22 is one of Australia’s leading facilities for metal additive manufacturing research teams including: and has assisted in world-first medical breakthroughs including 3D-printed body ¢the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and parts for patients in Australia and in Europe. Technology (SMaRT Centre), led by ARC Laureate Fellow, Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla FTSE; and NEW HISTORY CLUES IN GREENLAND ¢the Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, named for ustralian researchers have found the world’s oldest fossils in a remote former Vice- Chancellor Professor Mark Wainwright Aarea of Greenland, demonstrating that life emerged rapidly during the AM FTSE, which hosts UNSW staff and students, as planet’s early history. well as external researchers and industry partners, The team discovered the 3.7-billion-year-old fossil stromatolites – collaborating on the study of the structure of chemical formations created by communities of ancient microbes – in the world’s oldest and physical materials; rocks in the Isua Greenstone Belt along the edge of Greenland’s Ice Cap. Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the building was The stromatolites, which were exposed by the recent melting of a constructed by Brookfield Multiplex at a cost of $143 perennial snow patch, are 220 million years older than stromatolites from the million and is the home of the School of Materials Science Pilbara region of Western Australia, which were previously regarded as the and Engineering. It links physical and chemical science world’s oldest. laboratories and the reconfigurable laboratory system is The research team says the discovery not only provides greater insight framed by write-up spaces, offices and meeting rooms into the early diversity of life on Earth, but could also have implications for that encourage collaboration among teams. our understanding of life on Mars.
www.atse.org.au 43 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 ATSE PEOPLE
Ross Large team wins Eureka Prize
Ross Large and PhD student Indrani Mukerjee examine a sample.
“absolutely revolutionary”. The pyrite crystals they analysed recorded the changes in chemistry of ancient oceans, so that the team was able to determine how evolution of bacteria and higher life forms was affected (some scientists say controlled) by ocean trace elements. They showed that the earliest oceans, more than two billion years old, contained high levels of nickel, cobalt, iron, arsenic and gold, much higher than the modern ocean. They were able to observe the beginnings of life in the oceans; bacteria whose evolution depended on the high levels of nickel and cobalt at this time. Professor Large said he research added a A team led by the University of Tasmania’s This is a multidisciplinary research new dimension to Charles Darwin’s theory of Professor Ross Large FTSE has won the collaboration utilising analytical chemistry, evolution, focusing on plate tectonics. 2016 UNSW Eureka Prize for Excellence in geology, palaeontology, evolutionary biology “You might say plate tectonics controls Interdisciplinary Scientific Research. and toxicology. The project is contributing evolution because, indirectly, plate tectonics to a step-change in understanding the controls the chemistry of the ocean, and the Their research has shown that almost connections between plate tectonics, past chemistry of the ocean has a big control on every major growth period or extinction in ocean chemistry and the evolution and evolutionary pathways.” the Earth’s history correlates with a change extinction of life on Earth. But Professor Large says Darwin’s theory in the amount of the trace element selenium Their research on the common sulfide still stands. “It’s one of the most important in the ocean – high levels of selenium show mineral pyrite, formed on the seafloor over breakthroughs in biology and set evolution growth and low levels indicate extinctions. the past 3.5 billion years, has shown how on the right path. We’re just adding a little This research that may change the way we chemical changes in the ocean, related to background to it; we’re taking it back into a see evolution. the collision of tectonic plates, has driven geological context.” The winning team comprised researchers evolution and extinction of life. Professor Large’s team used laser beams from the ARC Centre of Excellence at the They propose a new theory, that: “Man to analyse just the pyrite in the rock, rather University of Tasmania, Flinders University, evolved from the mountains: without plate than using the conventional method of core the Russian Academy of Science and the tectonics and mega-mountains, man, the crushing and analysis. “The conventional University of California working on the Trace pinnacle of evolution, would not exist”. approach will just not achieve what we’ve Elements in Past Oceans (TEPO) project. Professor Large described the results as been able to achieve,” he said.
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY workers is not the end of the journey but rather a remarkable beginning Professor Peter Cawood, University of St Andrews that provides a new way to view and ultimately understand the “To say I was impressed and excited by this body of work would be evolution of the oceans, atmosphere, and the life they harbour.” an understatement. I think the colloquial phrase ‘blown away’ is more appropriate. Professor David Rickard, Cardiff University “I truly believe that the research undertaken by Large and his team “The work of Large’s team has set off a wholly new area of enquiry.” is defining the way forward in unravelling how the Earth works. The phrase ‘leading-edge science’ is much overused, but the research by Professor Nicholas Arndt, Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Grenoble the Tasmanian group is leading and not just following in the footsteps “A remarkable aspect of the research is that it touches on literally of others. earth-changing events during both the formative part of our planet “Importantly, the research undertaken by Professor Large and co- and in more modern times.”
44 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS ATSE PEOPLE
Andrew Johnson is new Director of Meteorology
Dr Andrew Johnson FTSE is the new Director of He is a Non-Executive Director of the Planet Meteorology, taking up the role on 6 September. Ark Environmental Foundation, a Councillor of the Queensland Futures Institute and a member of the Dr Johnson replaces Dr Rob Vertessy FTSE who Scientific Advisory Board of the Australian Agricultural retired from the role in April. Company. Dr Johnson is an internationally recognised leader, He is a former Non-Executive Director of the Rural manager and scientist who, for nearly a decade, was a Industries Research and Development Corporation, member of the CSIRO Executive Team, leading its water, Reef and Rainforest Research Pty Ltd and CSIRO Chile, land, atmospheric, marine, biodiversity and urban where he was Deputy Chairman and Vice President. research. For two years he was CSIRO Executive Director Dr Johnson has served on the Governing Council of Strategic Change Programs, with responsibility for of the world-renowned International Institute of implementing shared services for CSIRO’s IT, finance Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna and as a member and HR functions, as well as implementing the SAP Andrew Johnson International Scientific Advisory Committee of the enterprise resource planning system. Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Since September 2015 he has been the Principal of Johnson & He has also Chaired the Expert Advisory Council for the Northern Associates Consulting, a firm providing environmental and agricultural Australia Ministerial Forum, been a member of the Prime Minister’s knowledge services to a diverse range of clients in the private and Northern Australia Land and Water Task Force and a Governor of public sectors both nationally and internationally. the Western Australia Marine Science Institution. He co-Chaired an Since 2012, Dr Johnson has been a member of the Australian Australian Government review of environmental performance matters Government’s Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam in the Port of Gladstone and the Supervisory Committee of the Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC). He was appointed Australian Centre for Weather and Climate Research and served as a Chair of the IESC in 2015. member of the Reef 2050 Advisory Committee.
FELLOWS DRIVE SMART SENSING NETWORK hree Fellows are involved in the director and Adjunct Professor of the “Researchers, when thrown complex TNSW Government’s plan to get hi- University of Sydney, will chair the Network’s applied problems, are good at breaking them tech ‘smart sensor’ technologies to help Steering Committee. down to identify and solve the underlying address significant challenges – from the “This exciting initiative will conduct its fundamental problems,” said NSW Chief environmental impacts of mining and gas work at the cutting edge of several fields Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane extraction to improving quality of life for our of research and at the interfaces between AC FTSE. ageing population. them. The Steering Committee will provide “The Network will initially undertake five The NSW Smart Sensing Network will guidance on the strategic direction of the pilot projects in agriculture, the environment, bring together experts in chemistry, physics, Network and its projects as well as create health care, mining and gas extraction, nanotechnology and ICT to craft cutting- linkages between academia, industry and and use the considerable R&D capabilities edge solutions to problems in agriculture, government,” Dr Pond said. of our public universities to find innovative the environment, health care, minerals and chemical and physical resources, and transport. sensing solutions to a range The network will be headed by two of the of problems,” Professor state’s most respected researchers: the O’Kane said. University of Sydney’s Professor Ben “By capitalising on the Eggleton FAA FTSE, Director of CUDOS (the very strong problem-solving ARC Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices abilities of our universities for Optical Sensing; and Professor Justin and research organisations Gooding from the University of NSW. we will realise big The two universities have contributed improvements to our way $125,000 each, bringing total investment of life – and that inevitably in the Network to $950,000, including the includes reaping economic Government’s $700,000. wins.” Dr Susan Pond AM FTSE, company Susan Pond Ben Eggleton
www.atse.org.au 45 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 ATSE PEOPLE
Gordon Wallace wins Leadership Prize
Professor Gordon Wallace FAA FTSE, include organic conductors, nanomaterials head of the ARC Centre of Excellence for and electrochemical probe methods Electromaterials Science (ACES) at the of analysis and the use of these in the University of Wollongong (UOW), won the development of intelligent polymer systems. 2016 CSIRO Eureka Prize for Leadership in He received the Inaugural Polymer Innovation and Science. Science and Technology Award from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Professor Wallace is an internationally (1992), the RACI Stokes Medal for Research renowned researcher in the field of in Electrochemistry (2004) and the HG Smith electromaterials science and has cultivated Memorial award from the RACI (2008). a research vision in the area of ‘intelligent He was awarded an ETS Walton polymers’. Fellowship by the Science Foundation Through his leadership and ability to Ireland (2003), named NSW Scientist of inspire, his collaborative team has pioneered the Year (Chemistry) (2008), appointed as
the use of nanotechnology and additive a Professor in the World Class University METCALFE/GETTY MARK IMAGES PHOTO: fabrication in renewable energy and medical by the South Korean Government (2009), Gordon Wallace science. received the SPIE Smart Materials Research As well as his ACES role, he is Director of Lifetime Achievement Award in the US and PhD (1983) degrees at Deakin University the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, (March 2009) and was honoured with the and was awarded a DSc from Deakin UOW, and Director of the Australian National 2009 Smart Structures and Materials Lifetime University in 2000. He was appointed as a Fabrication Facility, Materials Node. Achievement Award. Professor at the University of Wollongong in Professor Wallace’s research interests He completed his undergraduate (1979) 1990. He was awarded an ARC Professorial Fellowship in 2002; an ARC Federation Fellowship in 2006 and ARC Laureate MARGARET SHEIL JOINS ANSTO BOARD Fellowship in 2001. TSE Director Professor Margaret Sheil FTSE has been Professor Wallace said his Eureka Aappointed to the Board of the Australian Nuclear Prize acknowledged the pioneering work Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). undertaken by his collaborative team in Professor Sheil has been Provost of the University the use of nanotechnology and additive of Melbourne since April 2012, and has previously held fabrication in renewable energy and medical significant positions across numerous committees, science. advisory boards and specialist technical institutes. “This award acknowledges the ability of She was CEO of the Australian Research Council for ACES and its partners to take fundamental five years, and prior to that was Deputy Vice-Chancellor discovery to real applications,” Professor (Research), Dean of Science and a Professor of Chemistry Wallace said. “It takes an integrated, cohesive at the University of Wollongong. and committed team to achieve this.” Professor Sheil joins a distinguished corps of Fellows He thanked the people he has worked Margaret Sheil on the ANSTO Board. with over his 30 years at UOW. Ms Erica Smyth FTSE, Chair of Toro Energy, is Deputy “Thank you to the hundreds of people I’ve Chair and Dr Adi Paterson FTSE is CEO. worked with around this country, especially Dr Paterson said that ANSTO would soon support the world’s nuclear medicine supply. those at ACES and the Australian National “By the end of next year it will have ramped up to full production, producing some 10 Fabrication Facility,” Professor Wallace said. million doses of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is 25 per cent of world supply, annually. “Thank you also to the community we “Nuclear medicine is a cornerstone of medical systems, particularly technetium-99m work for. You can be assured that you have (Tc-99m), which is derived from molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) and used to diagnose heart, lung around this country research scientists totally and skeletal conditions and a range of cancers. committed not only to discoveries in the “In addition, the Australian Synchrotron has joined ANSTO as another research lab, but to translating those discoveries to platform, cementing our role as home to much of Australia’s landmark science practical outcomes in the most effective and infrastructure and research that is focused on health, environment and supporting efficient way possible, so that we can all lead Australian industries.” better lives.”
46 www.atse.org.au OCTOBER 2016 | FOCUS ATSE PEOPLE
Henry Muller wins first BEYOND COAL – NSW SYMPOSIUM BHP Billiton award he ATSE NSW Division will hold a one-day symposium Tin Sydney on 8 November on the future of electricity SA Division stalwart Mr Henry Muller FTSE has been awarded generation and, in particular, the transition away from the inaugural BHP Billiton Technology and Innovation Award for coal in a carbon-constrained environment and in a market his work in the 1980s that allowed Olympic Dam to become a subject to increasingly disruptive change. commercially viable operation making copper, uranium, gold and ’Beyond Coal - What will power NSW?’ will address silver. four key issues: ¢ demand growth and the key influencing factors, Mr Muller, a former employee, developed a single process flow including the rise of consumers who also produce sheet to mine and process one of the largest, most complex mineral energy; deposits in the world. He was presented with his award in Melbourne. ¢ the speed with which low-emission technologies In recognising his achievement, BHP Billiton Chief Technology can displace coal and the technical challenges in Officer Ms Diane Jurgens said she was delighted to present to Mr integrating low-carbon sources into the power system; Muller the inaugural award that recognised outstanding contribution ¢ the available options for the mix of generation in the field of technology and innovation. technologies which will support the transition and “Mr Muller’s process proved that economic benefit could be ensure stability and reliability at least cost; and derived from Olympic Dam and other similar deposit styles. The ¢ given the investment challenge of up to $70 billion process flow sheet he created had never been done before. It was a by 2030, on some estimates, who will be willing to creative and unique application of metallurgical technologies and invest? allowed the company to produce all four products at the one mine The Symposium will bring together a range of site,” she said. distinguished speakers with unmatched expertise “This is an example of how technology can create value by who are well placed to provide fresh insights in an unlocking resources and lowering costs. interactive format designed to facilitate discussion, “Importantly, Mr Muller’s work opened up opportunities for representing AEMO, CSIRO, General Electric, AGL, the mining of other similar complex ore bodies.” NSW Department of Investment and Industry, Transgrid, Discovered in 1975, Olympic Dam is the first discovery of an iron the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the Grattan oxide-copper-gold-uranium orebody and the largest uranium, fifth- Institute. largest copper and third-largest gold deposit in the world.
CHIEF SCIENTIST ‘FUELLED BY ATTITUDE’ Professor Robyn Owens FTSE, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Western Australia, addresses an Australia– Israel Chamber of Commerce (WA) event in Perth in July, supported by ATSE’s WA Division. Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel AO FAA FTSE was the keynote speaker. His topic for the event – part of the AICC Technology Series of sundowner events – was ‘Fuelled by attitude’. ATSE Fellows attending included Professor Lyn Beazley AO FTSE, Dr Erica Smyth FTSE, Professor Michael Tobar FTSE, Dr Denise Goldsworthy FTSE, Professor Adrian Egan FTSE and Professor Alison Ord FTSE.
www.atse.org.au 47 FOCUS | OCTOBER 2016 ATSE PEOPLE
Max Lay ‘kindles’ interest SRITAWAT KITIPORNCHAI With Power and Purpose ELECTED TO EASA Q civil engineering researcher Professor Sritawat Dr Max Lay AM FTSE, internationally recognised for UKitipornchai FTSE has become only the fifth Australian his road transport expertise, has recently placed his elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts new book, With Power and Purpose, on Kindle. (EASA). EASA embraces seven disciplines, from humanities to world religion. Professor Kitipornchai has been invited Dr Lay says he was led to write the 442-page book to receive his honour at the Plenary Session of the EASA as he prepared an international review paper on the meeting in Salzburg, in March. factors that had influenced road development in the Max Lay Professor Kitipornchai’s pioneering structural 20th century, “drawing somewhat glibly on the 19th engineering research has drawn accolades worldwide. century legacy that provided the basis for most of It gave engineers a comprehensive understanding of those 20th century” events. structural characteristics and led to new practices and The question that increasingly came to his mind was how that procedures in building design. creative 19th century legacy had arisen. How did transport reach the He is co-author of Design of Portal Frame transformative stage that it did at the end of the 19th century – so many Buildings, which is widely referenced in engineering changes, so many new technologies, so many new markets? internationally. He came to realise the astonishing extent of the transport changes Professor Kitipornchai and his UQ colleague that had occurred during the 19th century. Nothing like it had occurred Associate Professor Faris Albermani gained worldwide before, he found, and the 20th century was mere incrementalism recognition for their work in establishing accurate compared with the quantum changes of the 19th century. modelling for predicting the behaviour of electricity He realised that there might be a story to uncover and to use to transmission towers. This work earned them the coveted shed more light on our transport inheritance – where did all the 19th Munro Prize in 1992. century’s key transport features come from and why are there so many “It is very hard to calculate the failure load for these inventions, innovations, inconsistencies and illogicalities in that story? structures, and for decades engineers had resorted to With Power and Purpose: How 19th century transport innovators totally full-scale testing,” Professor Kitipornchai says. “At the changed the way the world operates is his attempt to tell that story and to time of this research, no numerical modelling existed understand the origins of much of our current transport world. to predict the full range of nonl-inear load-carrying Interested readers can download the book to their Kindle or similar capacity for these structures.” device for $3.96. The model is now considered a standard by large utility companies in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and elsewhere. JOHN BEYNON MOVES TO FLINDERS Professor Kitipornchai is recognised for his work in rofessor John Beynon FREng FTSE has joined Flinders University as advanced composites and nanomaterials, holds two Pits new Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, patents, and has authored eight books, eight book Professor Beynon graduated from the University of Sheffield with chapters and 320 journal papers. a Bachelor of Metallurgy degree (in physical metallurgy) followed by a PhD in the same department. After postdoctoral study at the Max Planck Institute for Ferrous Research in Düsseldorf, Germany, he took up a lectureship and senior lectureship at the University of Leicester before rejoining Sheffield as a Professor, and later Head, of Mechanical Engineering. He moved to Australia as Dean of Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in 2005 and became the University of Adelaide’s Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences in 2012. A former President of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans, Professor Beynon was Chair of Sritawat Kitipornchai the Global Engineering Deans Council for more than two years until December 2015. He has been listed in Engineers Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia for 2011–15, and last year was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal in the UK for services to the steel John Beynon industry.
48 www.atse.org.au Graduate Research Training. www.unimelb.edu.au/research/
Join Australia’s Best Minds e University of Melbourne is seeking high calibre PhD students to contribute to projects at the forefront of international research. At the University of Melbourne, one of Australia’s leading research universities, you will become part of a dynamic research community, working alongside the best and brightest researchers in the country. Our generous scholarship programs provide students with nancial support and opportunities for international eldwork and travel. To nd out more about undertaking a graduate research degree at Melbourne, visit: www.unimelb.edu.au/research/ ATSE_October.indd 1 14/09/2016 2:32 PM